My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) consists of 10, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines build by GE. It began operation on May 28, 2011 (producing power) This cooperative corporation is made up of 15 entities, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) and 14 municipal electric depts. Ashburnham, Boylston, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Shrewsbury, sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, West Boylston. Through a series of agreements with BWPCC, MMWEC acts as the BWPCC's agent to perform numerous tasks associated with the acquisition, development, financing, construction and operation of the project.
Financing: The BWPCC has issued $64,705,000.00 (64.7 million) in tax exempt revenue bonds to finance the project. (tax exempt = loss of tax revenue to the state) Through contracts with BWPCC and MMWEC, the 14 municipal utilities will receive their respective shares of project output (Templeton share = 823KW /5.484%) and be responsible for their proportionate share of debt service over the 20-year life span of the bonds. What is Templeton's share of this debt in dollars? Prior to the bond issue, MMWEC coordinated a series of short-term financings required to purchase the wind turbines and finance construction activities. What, if any, is Templeton's share of these costs? Templeton is a member of or is associated with MMWEC. The BWPCC makes payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the towns of Hancock & Lanesborough, where the cooperative's project is located. Now since that is part of operating costs, is Templeton municipal light picking up part of that tab as well, as in making payment to those two towns in the form of PILOT payments as part of operating costs of the cooperative? Question: Is there a layout of the costs for this project, as in an audit and is there an outline of the cost to Templeton Municipal light plant? If there is, how much is it in dollar form? If there is not an accounting of these funds, why not? Is there an accounting (audit) of the debt and cost to the Templeton municipal light plant with regards to belonging to MMWEC? If not, why is that. If there is this information available, can it be posted to the town of Templeton's website so Templeton residents can make informed decisions and more importantly, they can know the indebtedness of the town of Templeton through it's municipal light plant.
at a selectmen meeting in March, I believe Sean Hamilton stated that the wind turbine behind NRHS was done in accordance with MGL c164, section 47c, which deals with municipal light cooperatives and since the DOR stated in a letter that Templeton Municipal light plant is covered un MGL c164, section 47c states in part that a municipal light cooperative cannot operate without making payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) section 56 of MGL c164 states the general manager of a municipal light plant must make a report of the indebtedness of the town with regards to the municipal light plant.
Question: If Templeton municipal light plant belongs to all these cooperatives and these cooperatives bought wind turbines from GE, why did Templeton not purchase a wind turbine from GE? Could Templeton municipal light plant gotten a discount or savings by purchasing a wind turbine from the same company that the cooperatives they belong to, since a cooperative by nature usually is formed to in part produce savings to its members. Question: Is there an outline of the expenses (all) concerning the wind turbine located behind NRHS. Templeton may also have a little problem with the contract for the lease of land from the NRHS school district, it is a contract between the town of Templeton and the NRHS school district, signed by Sean Hamilton on behalf of Templeton, and here I thought selectmen were responsible for signing contracts on behalf of the town. How long is that contract for?
Oh my, they would not want you to look into Sean signing for the town. You know how those things happen !! I understood that GE would not sell us a wind turbine because it was going to be put to close to the school, but Dave knows more about that. Bev.
Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC) consists of 10, 1.5 megawatt wind turbines build by GE. It began operation on May 28, 2011 (producing power) This cooperative corporation is made up of 15 entities, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) and 14 municipal electric depts. Ashburnham, Boylston, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Shrewsbury, sterling, Templeton, Wakefield, West Boylston. Through a series of agreements with BWPCC, MMWEC acts as the BWPCC's agent to perform numerous tasks associated with the acquisition, development, financing, construction and operation of the project.
ReplyDeleteFinancing: The BWPCC has issued $64,705,000.00 (64.7 million) in tax exempt revenue bonds to finance the project. (tax exempt = loss of tax revenue to the state) Through contracts with BWPCC and MMWEC, the 14 municipal utilities will receive their respective shares of project output (Templeton share = 823KW /5.484%) and be responsible for their proportionate share of debt service over the 20-year life span of the bonds. What is Templeton's share of this debt in dollars? Prior to the bond issue, MMWEC coordinated a series of short-term financings required to purchase the wind turbines and finance construction activities. What, if any, is Templeton's share of these costs? Templeton is a member of or is associated with MMWEC. The BWPCC makes payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the towns of Hancock & Lanesborough, where the cooperative's project is located. Now since that is part of operating costs, is Templeton municipal light picking up part of that tab as well, as in making payment to those two towns in the form of PILOT payments as part of operating costs of the cooperative? Question: Is there a layout of the costs for this project, as in an audit and is there an outline of the cost to Templeton Municipal light plant? If there is, how much is it in dollar form? If there is not an accounting of these funds, why not? Is there an accounting (audit) of the debt and cost to the Templeton municipal light plant with regards to belonging to MMWEC? If not, why is that. If there is this information available, can it be posted to the town of Templeton's website so Templeton residents can make informed decisions and more importantly, they can know the indebtedness of the town of Templeton through it's municipal light plant.
ReplyDeleteat a selectmen meeting in March, I believe Sean Hamilton stated that the wind turbine behind NRHS was done in accordance with MGL c164, section 47c, which deals with municipal light cooperatives and since the DOR stated in a letter that Templeton Municipal light plant is covered un MGL c164, section 47c states in part that a municipal light cooperative cannot operate without making payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) section 56 of MGL c164 states the general manager of a municipal light plant must make a report of the indebtedness of the town with regards to the municipal light plant.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If Templeton municipal light plant belongs to all these cooperatives and these cooperatives bought wind turbines from GE, why did Templeton not purchase a wind turbine from GE? Could Templeton municipal light plant gotten a discount or savings by purchasing a wind turbine from the same company that the cooperatives they belong to, since a cooperative by nature usually is formed to in part produce savings to its members. Question: Is there an outline of the expenses (all) concerning the wind turbine located behind NRHS. Templeton may also have a little problem with the contract for the lease of land from the NRHS school district, it is a contract between the town of Templeton and the NRHS school district, signed by Sean Hamilton on behalf of Templeton, and here I thought selectmen were responsible for signing contracts on behalf of the town. How long is that contract for?
ReplyDeletePerhaps Virginia should get that investigated
ReplyDeleteOh my, they would not want you to look into Sean signing for the town. You know how those things happen !! I understood that GE would not sell us a wind turbine because it was going to be put to close to the school, but Dave knows more about that. Bev.
Delete