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County to search for savings on electricity
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County commissioners are seeking bids from electrical suppliers for the county’s major buildings in hopes of achieving substantial cost savings.
County Sanitary Engineer J. Robert Lyden said he hopes to save $150,000 to $200,000 from his department’s annual electric bill that totals more than $1 million.
The county’s total 2010 electric bill was $2,573,688, according to the county auditor’s office.
Because of its sewage treatment plants and pump stations, the sanitary engineering department is county government’s largest electric user.
The sanitary engineer’s Boardman and Meander sewage treatment plants have daily electric bills ofmore than $1,000each.
The county hopes to achieve savings in its large buildings, including the jail, the courthouse and the Children Services Board building, Lyden said.
“We’ve been led to believe by suppliers that there’s a substantial savings [to be achieved] in the generation portion of the bill,” through competitive bidding, Lyden said.
Lyden said he expects to receive proposals from up to six suppliers. FirstEnergy is the county’s current electric generator.
“As the budgets go, we need every penny we can save,” Lyden said.
On Thursday, the commissioners also approved the closing of Kirk Road between state Route 46 and Easy Street in Austintown between Monday and April 15 for a culvert replacement.
They also appointed David H. Turner, Ohio Edison area manager, to a two-year term on the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority board of commissioners.
The commissioners also approved the transfer of $188,000 in landfill dumping-fee income to the county engineer’s office for maintenance of roads that are heavily used by landfill-bound trucks.
The commissioners’ next meeting will be at 6 p.m. next Thursday in the Austintown Township Hall, 82 Ohltown Road.