The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Large firms have big plans
A look a what FirstEnergy, STERIS, Lake Health have in store for 2019
Lake County is home to a nuclear power plant, a hospital system and Fortune 500 companies that employ hundreds to even thousands of employees.
Here is a look at what 2019 holds for some of the area’s largest employers:
FirstEnergy
A closure looms on the horizon for the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, but a
refueling will be completed this year.
“As currently planned, the 2019 refueling outage at the Perry Plant will be its last due to the deactivation decision to permanently shutdown the plant in 2021,” said Tom Becker of Sitrick & Co., which speaks on behalf of plant owner FirstEnergy Solutions.
The North Perrybased plant operates on a 24-month fueling cycle.
“For competitive reasons, we do not disclose outage dates ahead of time, but we will issue a news release when the outage begins that will highlight planned outage work,” spokeswoman Jennifer Young said in an email.
In 2017, a 29-day outage ran from March 5 to April 3. The refueling was the shortest in the plant’s 30year history. A typical outage takes between 30 and 40 days.
During the last refueling, about 1,400 temporary contractors and employees from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company’s other nuclear plants came in to assist the Perry plant’s more than 700 employees.
The beginning stages of the plant’s shutdown is also anticipated for 2019, Becker said.
“To be fully prepared and efficient in the permanent shutdown, movement to safe storage of the plant (called SAFSTOR) and eventual decommissioning of the plant, the preparation process takes close to two years, so it is expected that the preparation process will begin in 2019,” he said.
FirstEnergy Solutions announced plans to decommission its three nuclear power plants (two of which are in Ohio) in late March. FirstEnergy Solutions and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly after the announcement.
Efforts to save the Ohio plants continue, though supporters acknowledge that time is running in short supply. In October a group that includes Lake and Ottawa County officials called the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance formed with hopes of convincing state lawmakers to provide lifeline for the plants.
Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino, a member of the alliance, said in October he remains optimistic something will be worked out because other states “discovered the political will to get it done once it got grim there.”
STERIS
STERIS is looking to redomicile to Ireland from the United Kingdom in 2019. The company announced its intention in November 2018. The decision requires approval from STERIS shareholders. A special meeting will be scheduled in 2019, STERIS spokesperson Stephen Norton said.
The company’s U.S. and operational headquarters are based in Mentor, but following its 2014 purchase of UK-based Synergy Health, STERIS incorporated in the country.
In its November announcement, STERIS stated that the “protracted uncertainty surrounding the outcome of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union” regarding the former’s withdrawal from the European Union (“Brexit”) caused the company to evaluate alternatives.
“Following this evaluation, the Board concluded that redomiciling to Ireland is the best path forward for STERIS to preserve certain financial benefits it currently enjoys as a company domiciled in a European Union member country, including preserving the benefits of certain treaty arrangements,” the company stated in a news release.
“A redomiciliation is not expected to materially change the day-to-day operations of the business,” Norton said. “For the vast majority of our people, it will be business as usual.”
If STERIS shareholders approve the redomiciliation, it would move forward through a “court-approved scheme of arrangement under English law,” according to the release. Shareholders will receive one ordinary share in the new Irish parent company STERIS Ireland for each ordinary share of the current U.K. parent that they hold.
“The company anticipates that, for U.S. tax purposes, shareholders owning less than five percent of the ordinary shares outstanding will not recognize a gain or loss on the receipt of STERIS Ireland ordinary shares,” it stated in the release.
Lake Health
Lake Hospital Systems, Inc. is Lake County largest employer with about 2,200 employees. One of its biggest projects for 2019, however will be happening outside the county.
In late 2017 Lake Health announced it was partnering with more than 20 independent physicians and Manna Isle Ohio in the development of a specialty hospital in Beachwood.
The Beachwood Medical Center is located in a nearly 70,000-square-foot building on the corner of Richmond Road and Chagrin Boulevard in the Cuyahoga County city. An official opening date has not yet been set, but is expected during the second quarter of 2019, hospital spokesperson Julie Strogin said.
The acute care center will specialize in orthopedics, spine, urology, general surgery and pain management according to Lake Health. The hospital will employ between 150-200 staff members and have 25 patient beds, operating and procedure rooms, emergency room services, diagnostic services and physical therapy.