DEAR EDITOR:

On behalf of Warren Mayor Doug Franklin, his administration and citizens, I write to voice opposition to House Bill 6.

Warren, a middle-class community of about 41,000, is located approximately 50 minutes south of the Perry nuclear plant. Warren has been hit hard by loss of manufacturing jobs since 2008. House Bill 6 is a $300 million-per-year bailout that will burden our citizens unnecessarily and tamper with Ohio’s free and open electricity generation market. Furthermore, it will jeopardize a new permitted $925 million natural gas-fired plant in Lordstown. Derailing the Trumbull Energy Center, TEC, would be a terrible blow to our region.

Warren is on the verge of a tremendous opportunity to receive a much-needed economic boost if TEC moves forward. It will provide 1,000 construction jobs for 34 months, filled by laborers from Trumbull and Mahoning counties and all over Ohio.

During construction, Warren will receive an infrastructure investment of $25 million to $30 million in three phases of construction needed to supply TEC water.

Projects include $6 million to $8 million on upgrades at the Warren water treatment plant; $10 million to $12 million to build a new water pump station; and $10 million to $12 million to install six miles of 24-inch of water main.

After construction is completed and TEC goes into production, Warren and surrounding communities will receive economic benefits for an estimated 50 years.

Warren will receive revenue over $120 million in water sales for production, helping to stabilize water rates for the residents of Warren and the surrounding communities such as Lordstown, Howland Township, Champion Township, Cortland and Trumbull County, which are supplied water by Warren. Also, revenue generated from TEC will contribute immensely to the much-needed infrastructure replacement and rehabilitation of Warren’s water system.

The recent closure of the General Motors-Lordstown complex and loss of 4,500 jobs at the plant and another projected loss of 7,000 ancillary jobs throughout the Trumbull and Mahoning counties (together with the loss of $700,000 annually in the sale of water) has and will continue to have a negative economic effect. H.B. 6 will add to this negative economic impact.

H.B. 6 will have a devastating negative economic impact for Warren, Trumbull and Mahoning counties and residents throughout Ohio. I commend Ohio Rep. Michael O’Brien for his willingness to stand in opposition to this piece of legislation and support our community’s well-being. This legislation will be detrimental to many cities in the Mahoning Valley. I ask you to stand with us in opposition to HB 6.

FRANCO LUCARELLI

Director, Utility Services

Warren Water Department