The amount of money it may take operate a proposed seawater desalination plant – and how much ratepayers are projected to pay in coming years, should the plant be developed – has become more defined as Corpus Christi city officials prepare to finalize a decision about moving forward.
City officials recently announced a new estimate for the construction portion of the project at its Inner Harbor site, one which more than doubles an estimate from about five years ago.
Current estimates put construction of a plant capable of generating 30 million gallons of water per day at about $541.5 million, compared to a $220 million estimate in 2019 for a plant capable of generating 20 million gallons of water per day – a shift, city officials say, that has been driven by inflation and a significantly widened project scope.
Additional, non-construction costs identified since the 2019 estimate total about $216 million in supporting infrastructure, including the dollars needed for the proposed plant’s connection to the electrical grid, as well as investment in capital projects that would enable integration into the city’s water distribution system.