As work nears completion on the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station natural gas-fueled power plant in South Huntingdon, Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials on Wednesday said $25 million the company paid for improvements to water treatment and distribution systems will help stabilize water rates.

“We have no plans for a rate increase for a substantial period of time,” said authority board Chairman Randy Roadman.

The authority hosted a tour of its Indian Creek water treatment plant near Connellsville to show off the upgrades paid for by Tenaska Westmoreland, the Omaha, Neb.-based power company.

Nick Borman, Tenaska’s senior vice president for engineering and construction, said the facility is now 80 percent complete and on schedule to begin generating power in December. The $500 million plant will operate with 24 full-time workers, he said.

Tenaska previously paid $25 million to install 13 miles of transmission lines to ship water from the treatment plant along the Youghiogeny River to the power station and 39 new fire hydrants along the corridor. Additional upgrades to the plant include new installation filters and treatment equipment.

“This is a great public-private partnership. (Tenaska) upgraded our system and that will benefit about half of our customers,” Roadman said.

The Indian Creek plant, built in 1970, pulls 40 million gallons of water a day from the river. The authority also operates water treatment plants in McKeesport and in Bell Township at its Beaver Run Reservoir.

The authority services about 400,000 residents in five counties, including most of Westmoreland and parts of Fayette, Allegheny, Armstrong and Indiana counties. The Indian Creek plant treats water customers in the southern portion of the authority’s system.

Tenaska agreed to pay for the plant improvements so the authority could provide water to the power station. Authority officials said that in addition to the treatment plant enhancements, its relationship with Tenaska will for now put a stop to annual rate hikes charged to customers.

The authority has increased water rates in each of the last three years by 39 percent, with a portion of those funds tagged to repay a $150 million loan finalized in 2016 to pay for capital improvements to the water system.

With those projects underway and upgrades to the treatment plant completed, authority officials said new revenue from Tenaska as a water customer is expected to keep rates steady for the foreseeable future.

“The rate structure we have will be in place for a while,” Hohman said.

The authority expects to sell Tenaska about 5 million gallons of water a day for the power plant, with that figure possibly increasing up to 8 million gallons. That would make Tenaska the authority’s largest water customer and generate about $2 million annually in new revenue for the utility.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.

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