The chairman of Private Power LLC, the newest player on the Northwest Indiana energy scene, pledges to give steel mills and BP Amaco’s Whiting refinery new opportunities to produce more of their own electricity on-site while cutting down on pollution. Private Power, which will soon own six Primary Energy plants located at area steel mills, intends to work on plans for at least two more cogeneration plants in northern Indiana. Under a recent agreement, Private Power will buy the six cogeneration plants at the steel mills from NiSource, Inc. for $335 million. The transaction will be complete in the third quarter of 2003.
The cogeneration plants provide savings to industrial users because they produce power from waste products, cutting down on energy costs while reducing pollution at the same time.