The Next Generation Of Service Agreements For Publicly Owned Waste-to-Energy Facilities - Pinellas County Case Study

摘要

Pinellas County's new service agreement represents the next generation of service agreements for publicly owned WTE facilities. Additional provisions were included in this service agreement to address specific shortcomings in the first generation of service agreements for these types of facilities. These improvements specifically included increasing the degree of control that the owner has to affect more timely repairs and maintenance to the facility. This change is expected to promote a more positive working relationship between the owner and operator and to better preserve the value of the facility, which represents the County's single largest capital investment. The County also recognized the need to assume some of the risk for latent defects during the procurement process for a new operator. Accepting some of the risk helped to preserve the pool of potential operating vendors and resulted in the County obtaining very competitive prices for the continued operation of their facility, a vital part of their integrated solid waste management system.