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| Modesto Bee, Friday, July 12, 2002 |
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| MID ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH GROWTH |
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Development of the new town of Mountain House is accelerating -- and so are the expenditures of its electricity provider, the Modesto Irrigation District.
The development, northwest of Tracy, is expected to have 44,000 residents when it is finished in 15 to 20 years.
Not much visible has happened since the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors approved Mountain House eight years ago.
Now, water and sewer facilities and streets for the first 1,000 homes are under construction. The MID is keeping pace with installation of the electric grid.
The MID won a bid process to provide electricity to Mountain House. This week the MID board of directors added $1.73 million to the budget for the Mountain House electric project.
When the community is complete, it will add 100 megawatts to MID's power load. The system's capital costs will be repaid in seven to 16 years, depending on power costs, said Ed Jeffers, MID's electrical engineering manager.
Paul Sensibaugh, general manager of the Mountain House Community Services District, is pleased with the MID deal. "We got really reasonable rates from MID. We got a good deal," Sensibaugh said.
In a related action, the MID board approved a $1.38 million expenditure to add four contract line construction crews to keep up with growth in the district.
The MID connected a record 3,000 new customers last year, Jeffers said, and that pace is expected to continue this year.
The district's expansion into Riverbank, Oakdale, Escalon and Ripon, along with the Mountain House work and growth in Modesto, are responsible for the heavy workload, Jeffers said.
The contracted crews will be paid prevailing wages, and the district will evaluate whether new permanent employees should be added, MID General Manager Allen Short said. |
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