A three-decade relationship between Penobscot Energy Refuse Company and 187 Municipal Review Committee members may end in 2018. The MRC along with Fiberight, a Maryland-based clean energy technology company, has solicited members about developing a new arrangement in Hampden.

Fiberight, LLC., which transforms municipal solid waste into biofuels, and the MRC, a  non-profit conglomeration of Maine municipalities charged with finding solid waste disposal option for its membership, are planning to build a new facility in 2018.

Fiberight would own the plant and the MRC would own the property. The MRC began looking for less expensive solid waste disposal options in 2011. The MRC membership learned several years ago the PERC plant’s operating cost would spike at the end of the energy contract with Emera Maine. PERC has subsidized membership costs due to a favorable contract signed with Emera Maine, formerly Bangor Hydro Company. The contract signed nearly 26 years ago ends in 2018.

MRC member towns are charter members and own a 23-percent stake in PERC. The MRC members currently pay up to $54 per ton in tipping fees. In 2018, MRC officials expect those costs to double. The impending increase led MRC to search for a cheaper alternative.

MRC officials expect the proposed contract with Fiberight will save its members significant money. The MRC sent a contract for members to review this week. Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District Operations Manager Steve Lewis received it Jan. 25.

The district doesn’t have a February meeting, so the trustees won’t consider the proposal until March. The MRC and Fiberight need commitments from the membership to send 150,000 tons annually to the new facility.

“There is strength in numbers so the more municipalities join then the better it is for the group,” Lewis said. “We will consider the signing the joinder agreement at our next meeting on March 10.”

If the BRRDD and a large number of MRC members chose the new facility, it would leave the PERC plant’s future in limbo. Lewis isn’t sure the state can handle multiple solid waste disposal plants.

“It’s an interesting question if PERC can survive,” Lewis said. “Their managing partners want to keep it going, but I’m not sure there is enough business in Maine for both.”

The PERC plant is owned by USA Energy, LLC. in Minneapolis. USA Energy owns 77 percent of the plant. The MRC formed in 1991 and became a minority owner in the waste-to-energy plant. The MRC began with 85 members.