Nuclear plant bailout will hurt Warren, Valley hard

Nuclear plant bailout will hurt Warren, Valley hard

On behalf of Mayor William “Doug” Franklin, his administration, the citizens of Warren and its surrounding communities, I write to voice our opposition to Ohio House Bill 6.

Warren is a middle-class community, with a population of about 41,000, located approximately 50 minutes south of the Perry nuclear plant. Warren has been hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs since 2008. HB 6 is a $300 million per year bailout that will burden our citizens unnecessarily and tamper with Ohio’s free and open electricity-generation market. Furthermore, it jeopardizes a newly permitted $925 million gas-fired plant in Lordstown. Derailing the Trumbull Energy Center would be a terrible blow to our region.

Warren is on the verge of a tremendous opportunity to receive a very much needed economic boost if TEC moves forward.

Trumbull Energy will provide 1,000 lucrative and needed jobs during its projected 34-month construction. These jobs will be filled by laborers from Warren, surrounding Mahoning Valley communities and throughout Ohio.

During the construction phase, Warren will receive an infrastructure investment of $25 million to $30 million in the three phases of construction needed to supply TEC water.

Those projects include:

$6 million to $8 million on upgrades at the Warren Water Treatment Plant.

$10 million to $12 million to build a new water-pump station.

$10 million to $12 million to install 6 miles of 24-inch water main.

Once TEC goes into production, Warren and its surrounding communities will continue to receive economic benefits over a projected 50 years.

Warren will receive revenue in excess of $120 million in water sales for production. This revenue will help stabilize water rates for residents of Warren and surrounding communities such as Lordstown, Howland, Champion, Cortland and Trumbull County that are supplied water by Warren. Also, revenue generated from TEC will contribute immensely to the much-needed infrastructure replacement and rehabilitation of Warren’s water system.

The recent closure of the General Motors Lordstown plant and the loss of 4,500 jobs there and a projected loss of 7,000 ancillary jobs throughout the Mahoning Valley (together with the loss of $700,000 annually in the sale of water) has and will continue to have a negative economic effect. House Bill 6 will add to this negative economic impact.

HB 6 will have a devastating negative economic impact for Warren, Trumbull and Mahoning counties and residents throughout Ohio. I commend state Rep. Michael O’Brien for his willingness to stand in opposition to this legislation and support our community’s wellbeing. I ask you to stand with us in opposition to HB 6.

Franco Lucarelli, Warren

Franco Lucarelli is director of utilities for the city of Warren.

Is the Republican Party now the Russian Party?

It now has been proven that Russia worked to elect Donald Trump president of the United States. Why are Republicans OK with this? I thought the Republican Party was the party of patriotism and love of country.

Must you give up your freedom and learn to speak Russian because of your allegiance to a political party?

God help us if we can’t protect our freedoms and sovereignty.

Vote for patriotism not political loyalty.

Fred Day, Poland