Mayor Barlow Announces $4 Million Upgrade To City Of Oswego Hydro-Electric Facility

OSWEGO – Mayor Billy Barlow announced today significant investment and upgrades are set to take place at the city owned and operated hydro-electric facility, known as the “High Dam” on West First Street.

The four-unit hydro-electric facility was first built in the 1920s, with the city taking control in the early 1990s. Since then, investment at the facility has been minimal, resulting in a lack of electricity being produced and significant revenue for the city being lost.

“City government made a mistake years ago by selling a portion of the water tunnel that supplies our area with water from Lake Ontario. The water tunnel was a perfect asset that could’ve been leveraged to create revenue and opportunity for our area,” Barlow said. “We won’t make the same mistake with the High Dam. By investing in this economic asset and restoring the facility to regularly run at full capacity, we give our community the opportunity to secure more revenue and invest in a key asset that can pay dividends years from now as the country focuses on clean, green, and renewable energy goals.”

The $4 million project is strategically divided into four smaller projects, all with the intention of modernizing the facility and getting the plant back to full power and production.

$2.4 million will be spent on electric upgrades, system controls, excitation systems, new hydraulic positioning units and new human interfaces, allowing the plant to produce more power. $1 million will be allocated to repair the high dam spillway Toe Scour. Toe Scours are pockets or voids that naturally form under a dam and need to be periodically filled.

Another $300,000 has been earmarked to be spent specifically on the replacement of the unit one turbine and generator overhauls and $250,000 is slated to upgrade the powerhouse to the dam with a new HVAC system and improvements to the security of the facility.

“As a community, we are fortunate to have such an exceptional financial asset. Not only does the High Dam help offset taxes but produces clean renewable energy,” said Jeff Hinderliter, city engineer for the city of Oswego. “To put it into perspective, High Dam could power all the city’s residential homes, thereby removing 24 million tons of CO2 gas from the atmosphere annually. I’m so pleased to work with Mayor Barlow, with support from the Oswego Common Council, to revive this facility to take advantage of its benefits.”

Last fall, the city contracted with Northbrook Power Management to operate the facility in consultation with city government. City officials said once the High Dam is back operational and upgrades are complete, the facility could generate enough power to cover all the city’s electricity needs plus a surplus to sell back to the grid that residents could buy.

The upcoming projects are scheduled to take place in 2022 with construction likely continuing well into 2023.

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