ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — Area residents had a rare opportunity Saturday afternoon to see where their electricity comes from and get a little discount on that power, as well.
FirstEnergy held an open house from noon to 3 p.m. at its Lake Road power plant, a facility dating back to 1929 but still in service during peak demands.
Mark H. Durbin, senior public relations representative for FirstEnergy, said the public’s response to the invitation greatly exceeded their expectations — halfway through the event more than 500 persons had been through the lunch line, toured the plant and heard a sales pitch for a discount on their electricity.
Durbin said FirstEnergy Solutions is offering a 10-percent discount on the power generation portion of their customers’ electric bills through the end of 2009, plus a 5-percent discount in 2010, if the customer commits to FirstEnergy for power generation rather purchasing power through the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC). The energy company is promoting locally produced power, which can help save local jobs, such as those at the Lake Road plant.
“It’s a nice reminder we value the community we operate in and we hope they value our operation, as well,” he said.
Plant A had been on shutdown since March 31, but was fired up July 9. Ron Myers, plant manager, said the plant is held in reserve, and decreased demand for electricity made its contribution to the grid unnecessary. Most of FirstEnergy’s power comes from large plants like Davis-Besse and Perry. Smaller coal-fired plants are fired up when the load increases.
The plant employs about 71 persons who do everything from welding to electrical maintenance, said Myers.
“The employees here have a strong ownership in the plant and they believe in a green environment as well as a safe environment,” Myers said.
Fired by coal that arrives on rail from Western states, the plant burns about 2,500 tons, or 22 rail cars, of coal a day. Myers said fly ash produced at the plant is used in concrete products and road construction. The water that’s drawn from the lake for plant processes plant returns to its source cleaner than it was when it entered the plant.
Plant A has a generating capacity of 244 megawatts; that’s enough to meet the power needs of about 700 residential customers, Durbin said.
The eight-story building also houses several older generators/turbines that were decommissioned years ago because they are not as efficient as Plant A is at converting the 1,000-degree steam into electrical power. Plant A is designed to recycle the steam, which makes it more efficient.
Efficiency on the consumer level was also stressed at the event, which offered each family a free compact fluorescent light bulb, which can use up to 90 percent less electricity than typical incandescent
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FirstEnergy power plant opens doors to public
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