60-day clock is ticking on Earl Powers, trash-to-ethanol plan

After three years of waiting for Earl Powers to fulfill his contract of bringing a trash-to-ethanol plant to Lake County, solid waste district officials said Thursday their patience had run out.

The Lake County Solid Waste Management District board gave Powers, CEO of Evansville-based Powers Energy of America, 60 days to come up with the financing, land upon which to build the plant and evidence of other progress toward construction, or the board will reserve the right to terminate its contract with the company.

The board's action Thursday found Powers in breach of contract for failing to secure financing and land upon which to build since inking a contract with the district in November 2008.

Powers approached the board with yet another proposal for securing financing for the plant Thursday, nearly three months after proclaiming that a Las Vegas-based hedge fund was prepared to finance the proposed $300 million plant's construction.

Powers admitted to the board that the hedge fund financing had not materialized and he was now working on a deal with financial firm Raymond James in an attempt to secure the financing. Powers also told the board that 12 previous attempts at securing financing for the plant also had failed in the past three years.

Several board members, including two members who have staunchly supported the trash-to-ethanol plan in the past, told Powers he had been given more than enough opportunities.

And some accused Powers and his company officials of trying to strong-arm the board into signing contracts by the end of this month to send their garbage to his yet-to-be-built facility.

Powers Energy Chief Operating Officer Ken Bosar told the board that Raymond James was requiring his company to secure interlocal agreements from communities showing that the company could secure 2,000 tons of trash per day for the facility, which would transform carbon-based garbage into the fuel alternative ethanol.

Board member and Schererville Councilman Hal Slager, who has supported the Powers Energy proposal previously, wasn't having any of it. He called Bosar's statement "a veiled threat" and "somewhere between laughable and strong-arm tactics, and I don't appreciate it."

In the end, the board voted to find Powers Energy in breach of contract, starting a 60-day clock during which the company must satisfy the board's financing and construction concerns, or the trash-to-ethanol contract will be terminated.

During the meeting, Powers also told board members the plant could get enough trash to make the plant viable from other communities outside of Lake County, including Illinois.

Lowell Councilman and board member Phillip Kuiper, who supported the Powers Energy contract in the past, told Powers officials that the company should get those outside commitments and build the plant before asking the county's communities to commit to a 20-year agreement of shipping their trash to the Powers Energy facility.

Crown Point Councilman Bob Clemons, who represents his city on the waste board, likened what Powers was trying to accomplish to attempting to buy a car without financing.

"If I'm going to buy a car, I better have the money, or I'm going to come out of the showroom without a car," Clemons said.

Before the end of the evening, Powers walked out of the meeting, though it was unclear why.