A liquified natural gas (LNG) plant project outside of Port Isabel once again seeks a local tax abatement.
The Cameron County Commissioners Court will soon vote on whether to grant a tax abatement to Texas LNG, a planned LNG export plant just outside of Port Isabel.
According to the agreement, Texas LNG would pay Cameron County around $2 million a year and a portion of required property taxes. If the county grants the abatement, Texas LNG will avoid paying around $34 million in taxes over a 10 year period.
Thirty-five percent of Texas LNG’s employees have to be hired locally to uphold the abatement.
The project, which is owned by multinational corporation Glenfarne Group, is a 625 acre LNG export plant next to Rio Grande LNG, another export plant project, 2.5 miles outside of Port Isabel along State Highway 48. Unlike Rio Grande LNG, which got limited clearance to begin building out its project after it received funding, Texas LNG has yet to start its site clearing.
Texas LNG initially sought a tax abatement from Port Isabel’s school district in 2022 but the proposal was rejected. The City of Port Isabel, which has long opposed the LNG plants, voted Tuesday to not support tax abatements for Texas LNG.
“There's nothing that's actually being incentivized by granting tax abatements,” Jared Hockema, Port Isabel’s city manager said before the vote. “It's just shifting the tax burden onto our homeowners by not allowing [Texas LNG] to pay taxes for something that's harmful to the public.”
Texas LNG’s delays are partly due to lawsuits it is in with the City of Port Isabel. The city is challenging the company’s air permit received from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Port Isabel also sued Texas LNG in an appeal against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its approval of the project.
Cameron County Commissioners have approved two abatement deals for LNG plants in the past, including a $373 million abatement for Rio Grande LNG. Annova LNG, which abandoned their LNG plant project in 2021, received a $10.5 million abatement from the county.
The LNG projects have been heavily criticized by locals, namely for the air pollution they say the projects will cause and the land destruction that Rio Grande LNG is currently causing.
The Cameron County Commissioners Court is scheduled to vote on the abatement during its Feb. 13 meeting.
