MRC members re-elect 3 incumbents to board

HAMPDEN – Three incumbents were re-elected Tuesday by Municipal Review Committee Inc. members to serve another three years on the MRC board of directors.

The MRC is comprised of 170 Maine communities that deliver trash to the Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. waste-to-energy facility in Orrington.

Dennis Cox of Millinocket, Susan Lessard of Hampden and Lee Yeaton of Addison were each re-elected to the board for another three-year term. Their terms expire Dec. 31, 2007.

“We had a 73 percent participation rate” for the election, MRC Executive Director Greg Lounder said Tuesday at the annual MRC board meeting.

The towns collectively have been among PERC’s limited partnership since 1998 as part of a restructuring and financing agreement with Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. The committee is funded through member fees.

A change in ownership of PERC, which occurred earlier this year, also was discussed at the meeting.

The plant had been owned by Minnesota-based Energy National Inc.-NRG, which declared bankruptcy in May 2003.

That all changed in April when minor partner Secure Environmental Technologies PERC Investment LLC, also known as SET PERC, headquartered in Minnesota, took over ENI-NRG’s holdings.

The MRC managed to retain authority on how the plant is run through the sales agreement, Dan McKay, MRC attorney, said Tuesday. The MRC owns about 25 percent of the limited partnership shares of PERC.

The agreement states the MRC would continue to have a say in PERC transactions, would retain the oversight committee and would keep local management, he said.

PERC handles about “30 percent of Maine’s annual yearly capacity” of waste, said Lounder, who added, “We’re very proud of the MRC-PERC relationship.”

There are several challenges facing the MRC, including keeping down the costs to members, Lounder.

Part of the 1998 Bangor Hydro agreement awards the MRC revenues until 2008, which have been used to keep costs low, Lounder said.

To offset the projected increase in 2008, the MRC has created a stabilization fund that will kick in during 2009.

Currently, about 41 percent of the MRC’s profits are distributed back to MRC communities to help them achieve the target rate of $45 to $54 per ton to dispose of waste. In 2004, $2.84 million was given back to towns.

The remaining 59 percent of the group’s revenues, or $3.9 million, went into the Tip Fee Stabilization Fund. Once the Bangor Hydro money expires, the stabilization fund will be used to keep rates down for members.

For 2005, MRC revenues will be split 50-50 between the towns and the stabilization fund, Lounder said.

“We are projecting we’ll maintain the $55 per ton [cost] until 2017,” he said. “Can we do it? Well, we’re working on the track to do it.”