Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Guy Gets Around

Yesterday, NJ.com posted an article, or maybe it was a press release since it's hard to tell these days when it comes to Union County news, concerning extending a lease 35 years into the future, or to the year 2045, with Covanta Energy.  Covanta runs a waste incinerator in Rahway.

According to that article, attorney Jonathan Williams of the darling DeCotiis law firm, is acting as special counsel to the Union County Utilities Authority, which owns the plant that Covanta operates.  Feigning skepticism,, Mr. Williams asks "“They’re going to be saying ‘What in the world is he talking about, signing on to a contract until the year 2045?’  Exactly.  See article here.

From Covanta's own website:

"The Union County Resource Recovery Facility, located on the banks of the Rahway River, began commercial operation in June 1994, serving the residents of Union County. The facility processes up to 1,540 tons of solid waste each day into enough electrical energy to power some 30,000 homes and businesses. The facility runs entirely on the energy it produces, with the remaining 39 megawatts of renewable energy sold through a merchant power marketer. Designed and built by Covanta Energy, the facility is owned by the Union County Utilities Authority (UCUA) and operated by Covanta Energy under a 25-year lease negotiated in 1998."  [Emphasis mine]

According to my calculator, that would mean the current lease expires in 2023.  Yet the article indicates the lease expires next year.

According to another NJ.com article, "The lease extension would also give Union County a 10 percent revenue share of proceeds from the sale of energy generated at the facility beginning in 2029.  I imagine they are referring to SRECs.  Don't hold your breath overtaxed taxpayers because that's 19 years into the future and who knows what the market will be then.  .

Covanta Energy is a client of Greener By Design according to GBD's website.  Earlier in the year, we read about Senators Lesniak and Kean buying into Greener By Design here.  I'm sure it's nothing. 

Regardless of whether the lease expires next year or  in 2023, someone should be questioning the wisdom of entering into a lease 35 years out and not simply take the word of an attorney whose law firm makes incredible sums of money off these projects.

1 comment:

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