Utility looks elsewhere for Energy Authority services

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - A western Kentucky utility is taking steps toward hiring The Energy Authority of Jacksonville to provide marketing services for a cost of up to $375,000 per year.

The Jacksonville company serves as the regional branch of a national management corporation that gears itself toward the power utilities industry. If contracted, its function will be to market surplus power to outside companies for Henderson Municipal Power and Light of Henderson, Kentucky.

The decision about whether to sell the power is tied up in a long-running dispute between HMP&L and Big Rivers Electric Corp., about who can use generating capacity at the city power plant that HMP&L has reserved but doesn't always need.

Gary Quick, general manager of Henderson Municipal Power and Light, told the Henderson Gleaner that discussions about the idea are continuing and no decisions have been made.