BANGOR, Maine — Penobscot County expects to continue sending the trash produced by residents in its nearly 40 unorganized townships to Penobscot Recovery Energy Co. after 2018.
County commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday morning to not join the Municipal Review Committee, which is breaking its ties with PERC and partnering with Fiberight-Covanta, which plans to build a new facility in Hampden.
Officials from the MRC and PERC have been touring member communities and county governments throughout the year making their pitches.
“[PERC has] run this facility for many years and have updated and maintained the facility well,” Peter Baldacci, chairman of the commissioners, said in explaining the decision. “We felt there was more stability as to what their rate structure will be.”
The commissioners felt Fiberight’s proposal was more “speculative” and weren’t confident the tipping fees they proposed would be reliable into the future, Baldacci said.
Fiberight is offering to process MRC members’ trash at a cost of $70 per ton for a 15-year contract. PERC’s latest tipping fee price is $84.36 per ton for a 15-year agreement or $89.57 for a 10-year contract.
“We feel it’s more prudent to stay with a proven commodity,” Baldacci added.
The unorganized townships send about 800 to 850 tons of waste per year to PERC, according to Baldacci.
In early 2015, Fiberight earned the backing of the MRC, a group representing 187 towns and cities that currently partner with PERC. That decision followed a three-year search for companies to handle the trash load after PERC’s contract expires in 2018.
The PERC partnership came into question several years ago when it became clear the plant’s financial situation would change after 2018, when its contract with Emera Maine expires.
PERC never submitted a proposal during the municipal group’s search for a new company, arguing it already was operating as a partner. But the company later came forward with a new proposal suggesting it could stay open with a smaller staff and by making facility changes to stay economically viable.
For the MRC, it was too little, too late, setting up the debate for nearly 200 Maine towns — stick with the committee or break off to stay with the waste-to-energy plant they’ve been using for decades.
Fiberight plans to build a privately funded $60 million to $70 million facility in Hampden that will convert organic materials in household trash into marketable biogas. The municipal group would buy the land, leasing it to Fiberight.
To this point, 50 communities that have made the decision, including Bangor, Brewer, Bar Harbor and Hampden, have sided with Fiberight and MRC.
Several midcoast towns represented by regional boards are likely to send their trash south instead of north, partnering with Portland-based ecomaine.
Penobscot County appears to be the first significant customer that has expressed its intent to stick with PERC. The commissioners won’t take a final vote to stick with PERC until closer to 2018.
“It’s something every town has to make their own decision,” Baldacci said. “We did feel it was appropriate for us to speak out so people would be aware of our thoughts on the matter. We feel this is the right choice for us.”
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.