Commissioners move on $100-million energy production facility

By John Kline

GOSHEN, Ind — Elkhart County Commissioners Monday took the next step in what could lead to the creation of 65 new jobs and the construction of a $100-million waste management and energy production facility adjacent to the county landfill.

According to Elkhart County Administrator Tom Byers, the county recently received three responses to a request for proposal aimed at finding a way to harness the county’s landfill waste to produce clean, renewable energy.

Contained within the request were three main goals:

• Reutilization of the waste delivered to the county landfill to generate energy

• Generation of energy to service the Elkhart County Corrections Center

• Elimination of the need for or extending the life of the county’s current landfill

Of the three submitted proposals, Las Vegas, Nev.-based energy development company Energy-Inc. has been chosen as the frontrunner in the planned project. Also submitting proposals were Vista International Inc. of Denver, Colo., and Wabash Valley Power Association of Indianapolis.

According to the Energy-Inc. plan, the company proposes to build, own, and operate a waste management, energy production facility and a landfill gas collection and liquefaction facility at or near the county’s current landfill on C.R. 26 between C.R. 7 and C.R. 9.

With the creation of these facilities, Energy-Inc. would then use its patented gasification process to convert approximately 140,000 tons of unprocessed waste per year into clean fuel gas that would then be used to generate electricity or heat energy while, at the same time, reducing landfill accumulation.

The company also plans to collect methane gas from the capped landfill that will then be converted to a high energy clean liquid fuel for transport or power generation.

While each of the two rejected proposals would require some form of investment by the county to establish their facilities, Byers said the Energy-Inc. proposal requires no such investment, and will instead take on the full cost of the project’s estimated capital budget of $100 million at no risk to the county.

“Energy-Inc. was responsive to your qualifier that there be no financial obligation by the county,” Byers said.

In return for saddling the full cost of the project, Energy-Inc. officials indicated they would require a long-term contract for the supply of waste from the landfill as well as a commitment from the county to purchase energy generated by the company’s county facilities.

Taking these requirements into account, the proposal indicates the county facilities will have the capability of producing 100 percent of the energy needs of the Elkhart County Correctional Facility, and even a substantial portion of the energy needs of the county as a whole, all at significantly reduced costs.

According to Energy-Inc.’s financial impact research, such a project could save the county as much as $29 million in operation costs over the life of the proposed 15-year contract by essentially eliminating all of the county’s current labor expenses associated with the continuing operations of the landfill and the maintenance and fuel expenses associated with its daily operations.

Energy-Inc. claims it will also be able to stabilize the energy prices for the Elkhart County Correctional Facility and the Elkhart County Landfill at current market prices for the life of the contract for a projected energy savings exceeding $6 million.

Under the proposed contract, the county would also be able to retain a portion of the landfill gate fee for an additional revenue stream of approximately $15 per ton, or $2.2 million per year.

While Energy-Inc. has been selected as the top choice for the project, Byers said a contract between the company and the county has not yet been established.

However, Byers added that a time frame of March 31, 2010 has been set for establishing a contract. After that the county has the right to move on to other proposals if it so desires.

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