BWL negotiates lower price on railcar contract

Lansing Board of Water & Light General Manager J. Peter Lark announced today the BWL has negotiated a lease extension on railcars, resulting in savings of more than $565,000.

“While the cost of leasing railcars has generally risen, we were actually able to negotiate a lower per-car cost than we paid previously,” Lark said. “I am proud of our team’s proactive efforts to negotiate a better price on behalf of our ratepayers.”

The BWL currently leases 589 rapid-discharge coal railcars through GATX Financial Corp. The lease extension is for two years. The BWL has the option to extend the lease for a third year at the existing price.

Approximately 2 million tons of coal are delivered annually to the BWL’s two plants, Erickson Power Station and Eckert Power Station. The low-sulfur coal comes from a region of Wyoming known as the Powder River Basin.

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