Update: City's Light Lease
By: Nadia Bashir
Updated: July 8, 2009
The citys 35-year lease with Indiana & Michigan Power for a central portion of Fort Wayne comes to an end in less than a year. The question is what happens next?
Last week legislation proposed by Representative Win Moses which would have greatly favored the city failed to pass. With legislation off the table and the clock ticking on the leases expiration many residents wonder what will happen.
The lease affects about thirty-thousand residents in central Fort Wayne.
City attorney, Tim Haffner, says the city has requested information from the power company which the city needs in order to take back control from the power company. Haffner says I&M has yet to provide the city with the requested information.
Susanne Moorman Roe, spokesperson for I and M, says the company has provided the city with all information it has requested. Moorman Roe also says the city has not responded to I&Ms requests for detailed information on the service transfer.
According to Moorman Roe her company also offered to buy out the lease in May. The city chose to exercise its option under the lease to take back the service area.
The city hopes to open the service area up to other power companies in a bidding process in order to get the most competitive rates for citizens.
The lease expires in March of 2010.
