"WISHIN' AND HOPIN' " dusty springfield

When it comes to any community that is in the AMP-OHIO circle of "take and pay" there sure is a lot of wishin'... hopin'... and sure to be plenty of Praying.
I came across this article in the Martinsville Bulletin, where for some reason their city manager could get the President of AMP-OHIO to come to their fair city and explain certain costs along with the liabilities of the Meigs AMPGS plant. The key words in this article seems to be that 'even if we screwed up Meigs we're still going to save you millions in the coming years'. Really? Why wouldn't you screw something up in the future? As far as "rolling" expenses into the gas plant from the coal plant? That's sorta like trading in your vehicle that you still owe $5000.[ that's worth $500.00] and it will be assumed in your new loan. Clever bunch. Also take note it seems the only way to control your destiny is to have control of the power facilities? If that's true why would they want us to spend over a million dollars on ways to conserve energy?
Another interesting fact I found out the coal plant was going to be a 24/7 operation yet the proposed gas plant Will only operate 7am to 11pm 5 days a week, why?
Our city manager better get a crash course in electricity, and AMP-OHIO had better be ready for a lot of questions on the horizon. In the mean-time could someone take that shovel out of her hand? She just continues to dig deeper, with no clue.
One thing I keep thinking about as I print these news-paper stories, have you ever read anything or any mention of AMP-OHIO losing any money?

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Council gets AMP briefing


City Electric Department Superintendent Dennis Bowles (right) introduces Marc Gerken, P.E. president and CEO of American Muncipal Power Inc., to Martinsville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer

Martinsville will save millions of dollars on its future wholesale power costs even if it chooses to pay back its share of expenses toward a ceased power plant project without participating in future projects.


That is what City Manager Clarence Monday determined when Martinsville City Council on Tuesday heard a presentation by American Municipal Power (AMP) executives about the city’s involvement with the organization and three power projects.

According to AMP projections, by participating in one of the three, the Prairie State Energy Campus in Illinois, Martinsville will save $5.4 million on wholesale electricity costs during the first 14 years of the plant’s operation.

Through 2020, the city will save $5.6 million on wholesale power costs by AMP’s recent decision to enter into contracts to buy electricity on the wholesale market. That will replace power that another project, the discontinued AMPGS project in Ohio, would have produced, projections show.

Monday said the latter savings results from a decline in market prices due to the recent economic downturn.

The total savings is $11 million, Monday noted.

AMP officials on Tuesday estimated Martinsville’s share of the development costs toward AMPGS at $1.7 million. That is down from the original estimate of $2.08 million.

They did not say how soon the city will find out exactly how much it owes. Monday confirmed after the meeting that it could be many months due to ongoing negotiations with contractors and potential litigation.

For that reason, figuring out the exact cost is “very complicated,” said Pam Sullivan, AMP’s vice president of marketing and operations.

Through negotiations and perhaps litigation, “we’re going to try to get your money back” — as much of it as possible, AMP President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Gerken added.

But the city will be liable for whatever it owes toward the project, he said.

The city can pay whatever it owes toward AMPGS through future electricity purchases from the wholesale market through AMP, rolling the expense into a natural gas-fired plant that AMP now plans for the AMPGS site, or not taking part in another project but paying the cost in payments over an unspecified period of time, according to Monday and officials with the organization.

AMPGS was to have been a coal-fired facility, like Prairie State.

Even if the city chooses the latter option, it still could save about $9.3 million overall on its future wholesale electricity costs, Monday reasoned.

AMP is an Ohio-based, not-for-profit organization owned by its 128 member localities, including Martinsville, through which the city has bought wholesale electricity since 2006. The city electric department then provides the power to its residential, commercial and industrial customers.

In 2008, the council entered into 50-year agreements to buy power from three AMP projects being developed — AMPGS, Prairie State and the three hydrodams on the Ohio River. AMP was to own or partly own each project.

City officials had estimated that Martinsville would spend about $3.5 million annually toward the plants, mainly through the cost of power bought from them. It is not yet known how discontinuing AMPGS will affect that.

Costs for each of the projects have been higher than expected.

In late November, AMP canceled plans to build AMPGS after contractors’ cost estimates rose 47 percent.

AMP realized “we could buy power on the market” for less money, Gerken said.

Construction has begun on Prairie State and two of the three hydrodams. Prairie State is under contract to be completed in December 2011 and two hydrodams are to be finished by September 2014, officials said. The other dam is in the permitting process.

Martinsville would pay its share of development costs toward those plants through its purchases of power they generate, officials have said.

Despite the projects’ cost increases, a consultant from the Blue Ridge Power Agency told the council that AMP — including participation in the projects — remains Martinsville’s best option for buying wholesale power in the future.

More coverage of the AMP discussion will be published in the Martinsville Bulletin on Thursday.

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