Lima Energy seeks permit extension

LIMA — The company attempting to build a clean energy plant at the site of the former Lima Locomotive Works has filed to extend a state permit that was in danger of expiring Wednesday.

If approved, the extension gives USA Synthetic Fuels Corp., owner of Lima Energy Co., until September 2014 to get going on the long-delayed Lima Energy project.

An attorney for Lima Energy filed Monday for a 30-month extension of its certificate of environmental compatibility and public need. The application and a memorandum of support were filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board of the state Public Utilities Commission.

A siting board official notified Lima Energy in a letter dated Jan. 25 its certification was about to expire. The official, Administrative Law Judge Greta See, ordered the company to file for an extension by Wednesday, according to documents filed electronically on the siting board's website.

The letter cited lack of progress at the site as the reason Lima Energy's permit was in jeopardy.

“The certificate shall become invalid if the applicant has not commenced a continuous course of construction of the proposed facility within five years of the date of journalization of the certificate,” See wrote.

Power Siting Board spokesman Matthew Butler said the board needs to act on the renewal application. The board typically meets monthly but has not yet scheduled a meeting for February, Butler said.

Lima Energy Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of USA Synthetic Fuel Corp. in Cincinnati, first proposed construction of the 580 megawatt power plant in Lima 1999. The power siting board certified the project in 2002 and amended the certification two years later when Lima Energy modified its planned technology for converting coal into cleaner-burning natural gas.

Lima Energy began construction in November 2005, pouring the concrete foundation for a massive coal storage building, but construction stopped soon after amid deteriorating economic conditions.

Lima Energy's renewal application indicates the company continues seeking financing for the $2 billion project. The application also stresses the power plant developer's role and cooperation in a greater plan to reinvigorate the city's industrial climate — a plan that includes such recent developments as the Vine Street rail grade separation, completion of Williams Reservoir and preparation of the land around the power site as a state “job ready site.”

Mayor David Berger, a constant proponent of Lima Energy's proposal, said he remains confident the company will get its financing in order and begin construction. Berger said he communicates weekly with Lima Energy President Harry Graves about the project.

Graves did not respond to a voice mail message at his USA Synthetic Fuels office Wednesday.

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