In exchange for a development order and a water withdrawal permit to build a $200 million, 640 megawatt merchant power plant on a 788-acre tract five miles east of the city, Duke will promise to use only 30 acres of the land for the facility; leave 758 acres as protected green space or develop it as a public horse-riding/recreation park; and pay an estimated $3 million in annual property taxes.

The site is northwest of State Road 44 and Country Road 437, a scenic rural area dotted with five-acre homesteads, horse-riding trails and large nurseries 28 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

Duke maintains the facility will create 50 permanent local jobs in the $40,000-plus salary range; will not deplete the area's fresh drinking water supply; and will hold its emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides well below standards set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.