The region could see four new hydroelectric plants within the next two years, but the plants will likely have little economical impact on the area, officials said.
Universal Electric Power Corp. recently sent notice to several area municipalities announcing that the Akron, Ohio-based company is applying for licenses to build hydroelectric plants along the Allegheny River on lock and dams in Highland Park, Oakmont, Tarentum and Kittanning.
Company officials hope to obtain the licenses within the next 18 months and have construction complete within the next two years.
However, that plan seems unlikely; and even if it were to occur, it's even more unlikely that area residents will see many benefits from the four proposed plants.
"It could be possible to streamline it to one and a half years, but you'd have to be extremely lucky," said Robert Hanna, general manager of Sithe Energies, a Ford City, Armstrong County, company that operates four hydroelectric plants on the Allegheny River. "It's more likely to be two years."
In order to obtain the license, officials from various agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Fish and Boat Commission have to sign off on the plans.
"It's a long process to get authorization to build hydroelectric plants on rivers," said Liane Freedman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh. "We would have to look at the schematics and look to see if (the plants) would affect our navigational projects. Once we see the plans they submit for their license, we'll take a look at that."
Various environmental impact studies also need to be completed, officials said. Then the company can apply for a license, which may take several more months to obtain while the results of the various studies are examined. Celeste Miller, spokeswoman for the federal Environmental Regulatory Commission, which issues the licenses, said Universal Power Corp. has not yet applied for a license.
"They have only applied for the preliminary permit which permits them to study a particular site for future development," she said. "It does not authorize construction."
Miller said the permit, which is good for three years, allows a company to stake its claim and prohibits any other company from developing a site.
Although the construction of the four hydroelectric plants would add to the coffers of school districts and municipalities as well as the state and federal governments, those taxes are unlikely to make a substantial difference.
Universal Electric Power Corp. President Bruce Feltenberger said he estimates the total cost to complete the various studies and construct all four plants will be $27.8 million.
Earlier attempts to develop a hydroelectric plant at Lock and Dam No. 2 cost $2.9 million for environmental impact studies alone.
"But they are using a newer technology that we had moved to at the end of our project," said Thomas J. Benecki, executive director of the Allegheny Valley North Council of Governments. "It's much less intrusive and will require far less in the way of environmental impact studies."
Nearby hydroelectric plants have been assessed at $1 million, although at least one school district believes the plant at Lock No. 8 will cost $39 million to construct and the one at No. 9 will be $54 million.
At a total cost of $6.95 million to build each of the proposed hydroelectric plants, including the costs of the various studies, it is likely that the plants built by Universal Electric Power will be assessed at a lower tax rate.
If assessed at $1 million, Lock No. 4 would likely generate about $18,500 for the Highlands School District and $4,480 for Tarentum Borough.
Feltenberger said a few construction jobs would be created by the project, but aside from those short-term jobs, the only local benefits would be access to more green energy and increased tax revenue.
He said a town the size of Tarentum, which uses an average of 80,000 kilowatts of energy per day, could contract with Universal Electric Power Corp. to purchase some of the 94,490 kilowatts of energy Lock No. 4 is expected to produce daily.
"Wholesale electric prices are three to five cents per kilowatt hours," Feltenberger said. "We can produce it in a range that could allow us to sell it there."
Instead of contracting with area companies that produce electricity by burning coal, Feltenberger said municipalities could opt to purchase more environmentally safe electricity that would be produced by the hydroelectric plants.
