Fri Feb 03 2012
by Laura Freeman
Reporter
Hudson -- The city has yet to respond to a Columbus-based environmental group's claim that the city's power rates will increase due to its involvement in a new coal-burning plant.
City Communications Manager Jody Roberts said city officials have looked into the situation and gathered all the necessary information, but will not discuss it until a City Council workshop on Nov. 10.
"They'll talk about it then," Roberts said.
Roberts declined further comment.
Hudson will have to raise its electric rates if the coal-burning American Municipal Power Generating Station project is built in Meigs County, the Columbus-based Sierra Club claims in a financial analysis of the project.
However, AMP President Marc Gerken has said "activist groups have mischaracterized cost estimates for the project in an effort to bolster their rhetoric."
The cost of power from the facility would be below market costs, and coal needs to be part of the solution even with renewable resources, Gerken said in reports given to Hudson City Council members.
The Sierra Club's report, "New Insights Into the Proposed AMP Generating Station: October 2009," analyzed recent market trends and concludes there is no economic reason for Hudson to participate in the proposed AMP plant.
Hudson would be better off purchasing power from the grid -- the network for providing electricity from suppliers to consumers -- while investing in low-cost energy efficiency alternatives, according to the Sierra Club's report. It claims Ohio does not face a growth in electricity demand due to state and federal regulations and impacts of the recession.
"It's beyond time for AMP's members to get together and cancel the project before it's too late," said Nancy Kanfer, Sierra Club representative. "Under no circumstances could this plant be a good deal for Hudson rate payers."
Hudson City Council approved a 50-year contract with AMP-Ohio to participate in the AMP project in October 2007. Approximately 34 percent to 72 percent of the city's electrical power will come from the AMP plant and another coal-burning facility in Illinois beginning in 2013.
Council member George Roth said he is "very satisfied" with the city's commitment to 6 megawatts of power from the future plant.
"I was in this business, and I built power houses like these around the world," Roth said.
Roth said the equipment to be used at the new plant is more sophisticated and not only met EPA requirements but took more mercury out than required.
"It's good for the environment and citizens of Hudson," Roth said.
Roth said the project's $3.25 billion price tag was cheaper than renewable energy and more efficient because it was in Ohio.
"One of the reasons [projects] like this cost so much is they have to fight all these lawsuits from different organizations," Roth said.
Roth said more information would be presented by AMP Ohio at the Nov. 10 Council workshop.
Mike Moran, who was the only Council member at the time to oppose the legislation and is now the District 42 State Representative, said he had no new information on the facility.
"The concern I had was we were only presented one option," Moran said. "Even if there were other options AMP-Ohio didn't prefer, I wanted to hear more about them before a 50-year commitment to a coal-fired facility and be locked into one type of technology."
The AMP project in Meigs County remains on schedule and on budget, according to information from AMP-Ohio and provided to Council members and city staff. The AMP Generating Station is a 960-megawatt plant, and Hudson owns 6 megawatts of that power. The plant is scheduled to be on line in 2014 or 2015. The project is estimated to cost $3.25 billion.
All permits have been issued by the state and federal agencies, but the air permit-to-install and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits are under appeal by a consortium of environmental activist groups. Ohio law allows AMP to continue the project through the appeal process.
When the power is available, the city will no longer receive 10.3 megawatts of power from an existing 1950 coal plant, Richard H. Gorsuch Station, of which the city has an ownership share.
The city's portfolio is a mix of sources of power with 17 percent from renewable sources. At the next workshop, City Council will consider adding a hydroelectric power plant to its portfolio.
The Sierra Club and other activist groups say the AMP plant was originally proposed in 2006 for $1.5 billion, but the cost has more than doubled while energy demand and market prices have fallen.
Gerken says the $1.2 billion estimate in 2005 was an off-the-shelf estimate. A $2.5 billion estimate in 2007 was based on a feasibility study, and a $3.25 billion estimate in 2008 was based on updated costs not in previous projections. The cost of the plant could be less because of the decrease in the price of steel and other raw materials, he said.
The plant also is opposed by Ohio Citizen Action, the state's largest environmental group. That group, in 2008, also claimed the city could face higher costs. It also objected to the pollution from coal plants.
E-mail: lfreeman@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3150
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