Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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| Council to get details Jan. 26 |
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Martinsville City Council will consider participating in two American Municipal Power (AMP) hydroelectric plant projects along the Ohio River.
Dennis Bowles, superintendent of the city electric department, on Tuesday gave the council basic information on the Meldahl and Greenup projects.
The Meldahl project would be jointly owned by the city of Hamilton, Ohio, and AMP. The Greenup plant, which has been operating since 1982, is owned by Hamilton. AMP plans to buy about 49 percent of the Greenup plant’s power-producing capacity, according to information supplied to the council.
Martinsville would get a total of about 1,640 kilowatts of electricity from the two projects, the information shows. A watt is a unit used to measure power. A kilowatt equals 1,000 watts, roughly about 1.34 horsepower.
For more than 100 years, the city has operated a hydroelectric dam on the Smith River that generates about 2 percent of Martinsville’s electricity.
Water is a reliable power-generating resource “that has proven itself over time,” Bowles said.
Consultants will discuss the Meldahl and Greenup projects, as well as how taking part in them would affect the city, at length during the council’s next meeting Jan. 26.
One of the consultants, GDS Associates Inc. based in Marietta, Ga., has been used by the city since 1974. The firm, Bowles said, has been “a longtime ally for the city ... very competent in their abilities.”
He emphasized that GDS is “totally independent from AMP.”
“I wouldn’t begin to recommend (a project) without GDS looking at it” first, he said.
On Feb. 9, the council will discuss the projects and hold a public hearing before considering a resolution to participate in them, city officials said.
Martinsville buys wholesale power through AMP, an Ohio-based organization owned by its member communities. The city then distributes that electricity to customers of its electric department.
In 2008, the city negotiated contracts for participating in five AMP projects that are expected to meet 57 percent of Martinsville’s power needs.
Council members on Tuesday reviewed the contracts in closed session.
However, acting on the wishes of Martinsville and other members, AMP in November terminated one of the projects under development, a coal-fired power plant in Meigs County, Ohio. The project ceased after construction cost estimates rose about 37 percent during the preceding six months.
AMP spent about $200 million on developing the plant, and Martinsville’s share was estimated at about $2.08 million, officials have said.
Martinsville now has two options, according to officials.
One is fully pulling out of its commitment to buy the power that the Meigs plant would have generated. The city would pay AMP the $2.08 million, or what it has not paid already, over a 10- to 15-year period, officials have said.
The other option for the city is participating in future AMP projects.
Councilman Danny Turner said he wants AMP to account for how the $200 million was spent.
Bowles replied that “if you’ll be patient ... I think a full accounting will come to light,” but probably not by the February council meeting.
The city is considering other projects to replace the electricity it would have received from the Meigs plant. Potential projects include retooling that site to generate power by natural gas and/or a proposed natural gas power facility in Danville, officials have said. |
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