Concerns about the city’s electrical contract with an Illinois power facility remained energized Monday
night.
Lisa Kochheiser, a member of the local group Citizens for a Livable Future, rose at the meeting and made
note of a recent incident at the Prairie State Energy Campus in southern Illinois which damaged the
plant.
A press release issued on May 28 by the campus addressed the May 24 incident, saying that "a water
storage tank overflowed resulting in an unexpectedly high release of steam and water that damaged the
siding and associated equipment. All employees and workers on site are safe. No explosion, fire or
injuries occurred." Damage was reportedly not done to the turbine generator or boiler.
A piece on the website of the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri concerning the incident said that
"a rupture disk for a pressure release system blew off and knocked a large hole in an exterior
wall."
Members of Citizens for a Livable Future have consistently voiced concerns about the Prairie State
campus, with whom Bowling Green has a nearly 50-year contract through American Municipal Power, at
recent meetings, saying that the contract could cost power customers $48 to $54 million more over the
next seven years. They have also voiced other concerns, among them that AMP may have had a conflict of
interest in the matter because the city engaged a consultant also used by AMP.
Kochheiser, saying that an AMP lawyer recently told one individual they would no longer answer their
questions, posed a series of queries to Utilities Director Brian O’Connell, specifically asking if
ratepayers will be asked to pay for the damage to the facility; if so, what the projected costs might
be; and how long it will be before the plant is running at what she termed its promised 85-percent
capacity.
"I trust that when Mr. O’Connell asks these questions (of AMP), he won’t be subjected to the same
kind of disrespect the ratepayers receive," she said.