And, after years of perseverance and mounds of paperwork, it will start next month.
Ground will be broken May 1 on the $500 million hydroelectric plant at the Meldahl Lock & Dam in Bracken County, Ky., city officials announced Tuesday, April 20.
Following nearly a month of decisions and approvals from the federal government, Hamilton will sign a deal with the contractor that will begin the 3½-year project by building a cofferdam in the Ohio River.
Hamilton received the final go-ahead — a Notice to Proceed — from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday, April 15, just weeks after receiving two key permits to build and operate the plant.
“The amount of time and effort, worry and concern, that has gone into this has been phenomenal,” said Charles Young, deputy city manager. “It has been an amazing effort.”
The city was actually given the nod to build and operate the half-billion-dollar facility by FERC in June 2008. The interim has been spent applying for permits, conducting studies and doing preliminary work on site. The pace picked up last month thanks to the help of Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) and U.S. Senators George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown, Young said.
Young said Boehner has been helpful in leading Hamilton “through the labyrinths of the federal government” for project licensing and permitting.
Construction of the cofferdam — the project’s first phase, expected to cost approximately $25 million — should take 14 months, Young said. That will be followed in July 2011 with construction of the Meldahl power house with three units going online between March and July 2014, Young said.
Hamilton will own 51.4 percent of the hydroelectric output from the plant, with the remaining going to American Municipal Power, a conglomerate of Ohio cities that will benefit from the project.
About the Author