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AMP Receives Auditor of State Award

Published on: 05/31/2018

COLUMBUS, OH: A recent financial audit of the Ohio Municipal Electric Generation Agency Joint Ventures (OMEGA JV) 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, as well as of the Municipal Energy Services Agency (MESA) by the Auditor of State’s office has returned a clean audit report. American Municipal Power’s (AMP) excellent record keeping has earned the Auditor of State Award for the joint ventures and MESA.

Created to facilitate municipal joint ownership of generation and related infrastructure, the OMEGA JVs and MESA are administered by, and facilities are operated by AMP on behalf of the organization’s members participating in the joint ventures.

“AMP and its members continue to benefit from strong fiscal management,” said Marcy Steckman, AMP CFO. “The strength of the organization and fiscally sound efforts of AMP’s executive management, finance staff and project administrators are recognized through this well-deserved Auditor of State Award.”

The Auditor of State Award is presented upon the completion of a financial audit. Entities that receive the award meet the following criteria of a “clean” audit report:

  • The entity must file timely financial reports with the Auditor of State’s office in accordance with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles);
  • The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery, material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiencies, Single Audit findings or questioned costs;
  • The entity’s management letter contains no comments related to:

    • Ethics referrals
    • Questioned costs less than $10,000
    • Lack of timely report submission
    • Reconciliation
    • Failure to obtain a timely Single Audit
    • Findings for recovery less than $100
    • Public meetings or public records

The following is a brief description of the joint ventures and MESA:

  • OMEGA JV 1: Formed in 1992, the joint venture owned six diesel-fired distributed generation units located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, supplying a total of nine megawatts (MW) to 21 participating communities. The units were sold in 2017.
  • OMEGA JV 2: Formed in 2000, the joint venture is composed of 36 AMP member communities, and owns three gas turbine peaking generation units and 35 diesel units. The project has a subscribed capacity of 134.096 megawatts. Thirty-four of the diesel units were upgraded in 2015 with diesel oxidation catalysts and one unit was retired in 2016. AMP manages the project on behalf of participants and can operate the diesel units remotely from its Energy Control Center for peak shaving. OMEGA JV2 is debt free — the final debt service charge to participants was for December 2017.
  • OMEGA JV 4: Formed in 1995 by four AMP members, the joint venture owns a 69-kilovolt (kV) sub-transmission line, which serves as a second delivery point for participating AMP members in Williams County, Ohio, as well as AMP member Holiday City.
  • OMEGA JV 5: Formed in 1993, the joint venture is composed of 42 AMP member communities. Besides the 42-MW Belleville Hydroelectric Plant, which began commercial operations in 1999, the joint venture owns approximately 26.5 miles of 138-kilovolt transmission facilities and fifteen 1.8 MW diesel reciprocating generating units.In May 2016, the 15 diesel units were restricted to emergency-use-only generation. In 2017, the participants approved selling the diesel assets.
  • OMEGA JV 6: Formed in 2003, the joint venture owns Ohio’s first utility-scale wind farm — the American Municipal Power Wind Farm — adjacent to the Wood County Landfill near Bowling Green, Ohio. Ten AMP member communities receive energy generated from the 7.2-megawatt (MW) capacity installation, which is composed of four 1.8-MW wind turbines. The turbines rest atop 257-foot towers and have blades that extend 132 feet from the turbine casing. Each unit measures nearly 400 feet tall when the blades rotate to their highest point. Thanks to sound fiscal management, the project was paid off four years early. The participating communities have full ownership with no debt.
  • MESA: Founded in 1996, the joint venture was formed to provide existing member communities with a new source of technical assistance. The organization began with 16 participating communities and has since expanded to 55. MESA uses existing AMP staff to provide planning, design and engineering, field services and training assistance.

To view the Auditor of State Award certificate, click here.

View official news release