Logansport to get energy upgrade

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WLFI) - Logansport officials are dreaming big.

They said a major upgrade to their current plant will generate new customers and enough cash down the road that current customers won't have to pay any extra. Officials said what current customers pay now is already too high.

"One of the problems we have right now in Logansport is the electric rate is not competitive with any of our surrounding utilities and that is kind of holding back economic development," Logansport Utilities Superintendent Paul Hartman said.

A problem Hartman said will soon be in the past.

Mayor Ted Franklin announced Tuesday the city is accepting proposals from private sector firms to finance a new materials recycling facility and a power generation plant. Franklin said the project is estimated to cost just under $600 million.

"It's quite expensive, but in the end it allows us 10 times more generating capacity than we have right now," Franklin said about the new project. "We believe that that excess capacity could be sold on the open market and actually become a profit center for the Logansport Municipal Utilities and in turn the city."

The city proposes a private firm pay to develop and build the 300 megawatt project then the city will operate and purchase the facilities using money from electrical power sales to pay the costs. Power output on the current plant is 38 megawatts. Franklin said no bonds will be needed and residents will save money on their electric bills because of the increased output.

Franklin said using renewable energy to fuel the city just makes sense.

"The product that would be produced that the materials recycling facility would be renewable, common curbside municipal solid waste that every city has to deal with," Franklin said.

Hartman said solid waste will be sorted and about 30 percent of it will be formed into pellets. He said those pellets will replace the coal that is now used to generate power.

"It will go into our boilers, our boilers will create steam, steam turns the turbines, and we create electricity," Hartman said. "It's going to be a lot easier to treat those emissions from the plant than it is any kind of natural gas or coal."

Proposals to upgrade Logansport's power generation plant are due Jan. 11. Both Hartman and Franklin said the final decision on which proposal the city will go to with will be made Feb. 4.

Construction of the new 300 megawatt plant is expected to be complete by 2017.