BIDDEFORD — Officials from nearly 30 towns and cities in southern Maine and New Hampshire debated Wednesday whether to accept higher fees to dispose of their trash at the Maine Energy Recovery Co. incinerator.

The executive board of the Tri-County Solid Waste Advisory Corp. voted 5-0, with one abstention, to endorse a proposed agreement that would raise tipping fees from an average of $30 a ton to $47 a ton, said Floyd Gent, vice president of operations for MERC’s general partner, Kuhr Technologies Inc.

The increase is needed to keep the financially troubled trash-to-energy incinerator afloat.

The waste advisory group’s full board, which represents towns and cities served by the plant in Biddeford, didn’t vote on the proposal, Gent said. “It’s not finalized,” he said.

But Gent said “there was a general consensus” that MERC officials and representatives of the municipalities should draft a legal agreement to put into effect the higher fees.

“This is, in their opinion, the best deal that they can get from us,” Gent said.

While that agreement is being written, he said, the municipalities represented on the waste advisory agency will be asked to each issue a statement “on whether they want to be part of this.”

Rick Erb of Kennebunk, executive director of Tri-County, told the meeting at the University of New England that MERC’s plant in Biddeford remained the best alternative for disposing of their trash — even with the higher rates.

“MERC represents your best option for waste disposal, and we think you should consider this negotiated settlement in lieu of doing nothing or participating in a bankruptcy,” Erb said.

Citing losses of $500,000 a month, MERC officials have warned that the $100 million plant could be forced into bankruptcy unless fees are raised.

The dispute over fees is linked to a lawsuit in which Saco and Biddeford alleged that MERC, its parent companies and General Electric, which built the plant, violated contracts by failing to develop a safe and efficient incinerator.