Perry Nuclear Power Plant in North Perry is visible from almost anywhere in Lake County. This is the view as seen over a field of sunflowers and a grove of trees on Lockwood Road.

Water

Lake County is adjacent to the Great Lakes, the earth’s largest supply of fresh water. More than 12 quadrillion gallons, enough to meet the needs of half the world, is available to the area. Lake County residents receive their water from Aqua Ohio Water and Painesville Muni.

Aqua Ohio Water is a subsidiary of Aqua America Inc., providing water and wastewater services to about 2.5 million residents in 13 states, including Ohio. In Lake County, Aqua serves more than 87,000 residents in the cities of Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake and Kirtland; villages of Kirtland Hills and Waite Hill; and portions of Concord and Painesville townships. The company makes capital investments averaging $13 million per year.

Electricity

The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, is made up of 112 member communities, large and small, spread across eight Northeast Ohio counties. This means Lake Countians can benefit by banding together into this large buying group, thereby gaining leverage in the deregulated marketplace.

Customers represented by NOPEC enjoy the advantages of bulk buying power and consumer advocacy. NOPEC is the largest public aggregation in the U.S., with more than 600,000 potential customers.

The Perry Nuclear Power Plant in North Perry Village, operated by FirstEnergy, is the county’s largest tax contributor. The plant has enough generating capacity to meet electrical needs for many years.

Natural Gas
Dominion East Ohio Gas

Cleveland-based Dominion East Ohio is Dominion’s largest gas distribution subsidiary. The company serves more than 1.2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in 400 eastern and western Ohio communities. The company’s diverse supply base allows it to provide reliable supplies year-round at competitive prices.

East Ohio has storage facilities, enabling the company to purchase gas when prices are lower. The company works with business groups, community and government to help attract new industry and jobs to strengthen the area’s economic climate.

Telephone – Land lines and cellular service

Telephone service has come a long way since phone numbers started with the first two letters of the name of your town and party lines were the norm. Now it’s hard to remember your best friend’s home number because it’s programmed into your cell phone along with their pager, work and cell phone numbers.

Now, SBC Ohio provides land line service in Lake County with all the latest in connectivity including DSL. Verizon, Sprint, Cingular and T-Mobile are just a few of the cell phone companies that provide service in Lake County, each offering a variety of perks and specials. Cellular towers pepper Lake County and the surrounding area so phones aren’t often out of the service area and “Can you hear me now?” is a question rarely heard.

Painesville Muni

Painesville residents enjoy a full complement of utilities from the city, including water, electric and sewer, as well as certain utilities to various areas outside the city. The city's water treatment plant, established in 1896, services all of Painesville, Grand River and sections of Painesville and Concord townships.

The water plant treats and pumps about 4 million gallons of water a day. The city's Municipal Electric System was established in 1888. The city's Water Pollution Control Plant handles all sanitary sewers for the entire city.

Renewable Energy

Cleveland has just embarked on a three-year feasibility study on wind power, the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. The project includes the installation of offshore wind turbines just off the Lake Erie coastline.

The project on Cleveland's waterfront is a driving force in promoting economic development. The project will offer an aesthetically distinctive yet functional addition to the lakefront. An offshore wind park would give the city a pioneering image while producing substantial economic and environmental benefits for the region.