By the 1960s, the good times were largely over for C & H and Crockett. Revenues and profits began dropping, so that the company pumped less money into the community. There were many layoffs as the company tried to restore profitability. In 1984, the company proposed building a natural gas-powered cogeneration plant that would provide steam for the sugar refinery and low-cost electricity for Crockett. A protest group calling itself the Crockett Power Plant Committee, supported by many Crockett residents formed and spent the next nine years opposing the proposal. The proposed power plant was eventually built, but only after the company agreed to make major changes. C & H agreed to give Crockett $300,000 per year for the ensuing 30 years, which mostly funds its police and volunteer fire fighting departments.