City Plans to Sell $12M in Bonds to Fund Court-Mandated Upgrades at Wyandotte Power Plant

Wyandotte City Council members voted 5-1 Monday night to issue and sell up to to pay for court-mandated upgrades at the city’s power plant.

Councilman Daniel Galeski was the sole dissenter.

Now that the matter has been approved, state law gives residents 45 days to petition the city to have the matter put before voters in an election. Otherwise, the city is free and clear the sell the Electric Utility System Revenue Bonds to renovate the power plant.

If the bonds were sold, the money would be used to install a baghouse, which is a device that will remove particles from the gas before it leaves the boiler.

The project is necessary due to a lawsuit filed against the city by the federal government that claimed the city's power plant emitted unlawful levels of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Despite some controversy, the city , which alleged , by agreeing to make several improvements at the facility, including the installation of the baghouse.

The city also has changed the way the coal is handled at the plant and took six gas vehicles out of commission and replaced them with natural gas vehicles. The city also was slapped with a $112,000 civil penalty.

Because the city operates its own electric company through , the utility, not the city, would be on the hook if anything were to go awry, City Administrator Todd Drysdale said.

 “The city itself isn’t responsible for the repayment to the bondholders,” he said. “It’s built into the electric system. The repayment is backed by money from revenue of the utility.”

Even though the bonds haven’t yet been issued, residents are already paying for them. The cost was factored into . The increase it electric bills will help repay the $12 million plus interest over the course of 25 or 30 years, Drysdale said.

Councilman James DeSana asked what would happen if the city opted not to install the baghouse despite agreeing to do so in the federal consent agreement.

Melanie McCoy, general manager of Wyandotte Municipal Services, said that move would begin the process of completely shutting down the city's power plant.