Brooke County, W.Va. (WTRF)- The West Virginia Economic Development Authority has approved a loan for the Brooke County Power Plant.

$5 million has been guaranteed to proceed with the project.

Now investors will be comfortable with moving forward with the project because if the state would pull the permit for the power plant, WV would be out of 5 million dollars.

The 800-megawatt power plant would be the first natural gas fire power plant in the state of West Virginia.

Brooke County Commissioner, AJ Thomas, said “the potential impacts of this we don’t even know everything that could benefit in Brooke County yet, we’re not competing against each other we’re filling demand this would allow you to flip the switch and have easy access to power on the grid and regardless it’s good to have a balanced power grid especially in a state that is a key producer of electricity in the country.”

Thomas says the plant would cost 1 billion dollars to build but would bring a 100 million dollar in payroll to workers in this area.

Once the ground is broken, Thomas says  Brooke County will get a 1 million dollar payment the county can put towards the 911 radio system, and or senior center that needs help.

State Senator for the 1st District, Ryan Weld, said: “the Brooke County Board of Education will receive over $100,000 annually because of this project, $3.5 million investment in the Brooke County Public Service District that would allow for an expansion of services to thousands of residents out in more rural parts of Brooke County, 1,000 construction jobs to build the plant, the full-time jobs once it’s built…”

Ground breaking for the plant should occur in the next two years and once construction starts it would take 2-3 years to build.

Click for more on the proposed plan.