Plasma arc firm working with Marion, looking for energy-consuming partner

MARION -- The city of Marion is forging ahead with a waste-to-energy plan even though the company it's working with may choose a Cedar Rapids location.

“Sure, we wanted it to be in Marion,” said Charlie Kress, a retired Marion engineer who has been pushing the waste-to-energy plasma arc technology for at least five years. “But we're thrilled about it.”

Mayor Paul Rehn sounds enthusiastic, too, even though the proposed project – and its property taxes – might go to Cedar Rapids rather than Marion.

“We'd definitely rather have it close by than in another state or in an entity farther away,” he said. “It benefits the whole corridor.”

Jim Juranitch, president of Plasma Power LLC, emphasizes the discussion still is in preliminary stages. However, the company hopes to be in operation by 2012 and said its representatives may be in the area next week to talk to potential partners.

“For the most favorable economics, we would prefer to team with an energy consumer – we would make the energy and they would consume it,” he explained. Location is important because he wants to minimize transportation costs, too.

Plasma Power of Fort Lauderdale is a relatively new company, but Juranitch said he and others have been involved in the energy industry for decades. The company was spun off from another company to concentrate on plasma arc technology.

Plasma arc technology uses an electric arc much like lightning to virtually destroy waste and convert it to gases and inert materials that can be used to make useful products. Plasma converters can be used to generate electricity or stream from turn solid.

Marion City Manager Lon Pluckman has recommended the council continue working with Plasma Power, which was one of four companies to submit plans to the city earlier this year. The firm is asking Marion invest $95,000 and commit to sending its 90 tons a day of solid waste to the facility and invest $95,000 in the business.

Part of the attraction for Marion is reducing the amount of waste going into the landfill located in the northeast corner of the community. That would reduce the city's ongoing liability for the landfill, Rehn said.

The next step for the city is “serious due diligence” to determine the feasibility – both financial and technical – of Plasma Power's plan. That could take a month or more, he said.

“We won't risk taxpayers' money without vetting this,” he said.