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Last winter, we told you that Quincy was looking at ways to get hydro-electricity in the city. Today the city got a look at preliminary plans for a hydro-electric plant.
We nailed down the facts about the proposals for the KHQA Fact Finder report. The hydro-electricity plan calls for the installation of three power turbines along the Mississippi River..One turbine would be located at the dams in Quincy, Saberton, and Canton. The city has already received a permit and must still get a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to move forward. And today city officials talked with utility companies about how to connect turbines to existing power sources.
Constructing the hydro-electric grids would cost nearly $200 million. Those costs would likely be paid for by a 50 year bond loan. Some grants might also be available. Now hydro-electricity wouldn't be the primary source for power...it would just supplement other power sources.
If everything goes well, hydro-electricity could start being generated by 2016.
We asked, "Why do you feel hydro-electricity a good alternative for Quincy?"
"Well it's the best alternative. We have the mighty Mississippi at our doorstep and we should take advantage of it.....And the beauty of this is that once we get the facilities up and running they're pretty well maintenance free," Quincy Mayor John Spring said.
Right now, there are roughly 2300 hydro-electric plants in 48 states. But there are just a handful of hydro-electric plants in all of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa...So Mayor Spring hopes Quincy can be a leader.
"We'd like to be pioneers in that regard. There's not a great deal of hydro-electricity in the U-S, so this is our opportunity to show our country, our state and our region that this is doable and it's something we should work towards," Mayor Spring said.
Getting more hydro-electric plants up and running will also be beneficial to power companies. By 2010, all Illinois utilities will be required to get at least eight percent of their energy from renewable sources like hydro-electricity.
