Pennsylvania county authority prepares to purchase energy plant

The Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA), Lancaster, Pa., has reportedly sold $130 in bonds on Dec. 11, 2013, as it moves toward the purchase of the Harrisburg Materials Energy Recycling Recovery Facility (HMERRF), in Harrisburg, Pa.

According to the report on www.lancasteronline.com, LCSWMA plans to close on the deal Dec. 23.

In 2012, LCSWMA CEO James Warner told Renewable Energy from Waste that when the deal goes through, “This will be the first time a public entity buys a waste-to-energy plant, which is news in itself. Usually you don’t have one public entity buying another.”

With the addition of the Harrisburg plant, the Lancaster system will increase from a 600,000-ton-per-year system to a 900,000-ton-per-year system, according to Warner.

The city of Harrisburg selected LCSWMA as the winner of its competitive bidding process to purchase the facility in June 2012. The facility is said to have contributed to the city of Harrisburg’s $320 million debt.

LCSWMA said in 2012 that upon acquisition of the HMERRF, it will manage a system consisting of about one million tons of solid waste per year, generate total revenues of approximately $87 million and position itself as one of the largest generators of renewable energy in central Pennsylvania, powering the equivalent of 55,000 homes.