Waste Official: Clock Ticking on Trash-to-Ethanol Deal
by Marc Chase (Northwest Indiana Times) If a would-be trash-to-ethanol developer doesn’t have the money in hand to complete its project by July 19, it doesn’t have a deal with the county, a top solid waste district official says.
“If you don’t have the money, you don’t have a deal,” Lake County Solid Waste Management Executive Director Jeff Langbehn said recently. “I can’t be any more explicit than that.”
But Powers Energy of America officials are hoping for more time to secure 25 percent in equity financing of the $300-plus million they need to build the plant — and then to sell bonds through a financial firm for the remaining funds.
…Ed Cleveland, who represents the region construction contractors who would build the plant, said he hopes board members will give the project more time beyond the July 19 deadline to complete financing for what he calls a worthy project. He pointed out that nine Lake County communities have adopted nonbinding agreements to send their trash to the facility if it is constructed. READ MORE
