The future of the Elite Octane Ethanol plant proposed for Atlantic has apparently come down to fractions of a cent. In August 2014, Elite Octane said 6.5-cents per kilowatt hour (Kwh) was acceptable to meet their project energy load. That all changed two weeks ago. Steve Tjepkes, Atlantic Municipal Utilities General Manager told KJAN News the local utility’s Board met in a special, closed session Monday afternoon to discuss the company’s latest demands.

He said two weeks ago, officials with the ethanol plant told AMU they wanted an industrial electrical rate of 5.6-cents per kwH. They said if they were unable to get that rate, AMU should transfer its service territory to Mid-American Energy, which likely can charge 5.5-cents per kwh.

Tjepkes says the AMU Board is unable to provide the requested rate, and voted against transferring the service territory to Mid-American because of a contractual obligation AMU has with its regional power provider. He says they have a power supply contract with Missouri River Energy that requires AMU to purchase any load growth from MRE. If AMU signs that over to Mid-American, that would be a breach of contract that would result in costly litigation.

In addition, the transfer of service territory has to be approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, which MRE would likely contest. Tjepkes said if AMU were to lower its rate for the ethanol plant, they would have to raise rates for their other customers, and it’s forbidden by the State of Iowa. He said AMU has done all it can to accommodate the needs of the ethanol plant, at great expense, and it’s frustrating the project may have come to an end.

On a related note, the Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday) tabled until their meeting on February 8^th, action a Resolution pertaining to an $8.5-million incentives package for the proposed Elite Octane Ethanol Plant, due to issues the plant has with an electrical supply and other matters. Board Chair Gaylord Schelling said he would contact Snyder and Associates Engineers and have them hold up on further work on preliminary design and other services until the future of the plant is known. Their fee for the preliminary design and engineering phase costs the County $9,750, with additional costs to be determined.