Valley water agency considers windmills

A rate increase of up to 40 percent is possible from the district’s electric supplier.

By JORDAN COHEN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

MINERAL RIDGE — Fears of rising electricity costs due to deregulation and other rate adjustments have the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District looking into alternative energy sources, including windmills.

“I’m getting scared about what some people are saying” about the future costs of electricity, chief Engineer Tom Holloway told the MVSD Board of Directors on Wednesday.

The district sells treated bulk water from Meander Reservoir wholesale to about 300,000 customers through its member cities — Youngstown, Niles and McDonald — for resale.

Holloway said he is hearing reports of 10 percent to 40 percent rate increases when deregulation takes effect in 2009.

The change will eliminate the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s role in establishing rates, which would then be based on market conditions.

“We have $965,000 budgeted for electricity this [fiscal] year,” Holloway said. He indicated the amount may have to be considerably higher for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

Holloway also cited the recent request by Ohio Edison for a rate increase between 11 percent and 12.7 percent for its distribution service. Ohio Edison is the district’s electricity supplier.

Holloway said he is waiting for a proposal from the city of Niles, which is working with a private company on a plan for alternate sources of power to operate the Mineral Ridge facility.

“Windmills could certainly be a possibility,” Holloway said. “We’ll just have to see what the city comes up with.”

Edward McCormick, Niles councilman and former MVSD superintendent, said the district’s treatment facility requires dual energy sources, which currently are underground and overhead.

“There are several ways they could go, including separate generating equipment,” McCormick said.

In one other item, Holloway reported that Everflow Eastern Partners of Canfield, an energy exploration company, has requested permission to build a gas well near a Niles standpipe. The chief engineer said he has heard complaints about the proposal and plans to study it further.