According to a joint petition filed by Aqua Virginia, Inc. and Reston RELAC LLC with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on November 2, 2012, Reston RELAC is proposing to become the new owner of Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning (RELAC) Corporation. On January 31, 2013, Aqua mailed a related public notice of the proposed transaction to all RELAC customers as required by the SCC. Also according to the petition:
Reston RELAC LLC is a partnership of Michael Coleman, Craig Nyman, and Mark Waddell. Mike Coleman has operated and maintained the system for the past 11 years. Craig Nyman worked for PEPCO for 14 years as a building energy and system improvement consultant. And Mark Waddell has 30 years of computer operations and security experience, is a RELAC system customer in Wainwright Cluster, and is President of the new corporation.
The sale will maintain future viability of the RELAC system for benefit of its customers, it will continue low noise operations, and it will facilitate the addition of modern technology to become a showcase of renewable energy.
RELAC will continue to provide service and charge the same rates under the same tariff terms and conditions as currently authorized. The change will be transparent to customers who will receive uninterrupted service.
The sale will also facilitate installation of two new evaporative cooling towers for the 2014 cooling season to greatly reduce dependence on Lake Anne water, to more completely control and enhance the cooling process, and to significantly improve the consistency of RELAC operations and tariff temperature performance. Aqua delivered the towers late last year.
In addition, RELAC plans customer service improvements including complete end-to-end service with residential system inspections and equipment maintenance options, a dedicated customer website, and other outreach programs to provide RELAC information at cluster meetings and open houses.
And according to Mr. Waddell, who is also President of nearby Wainwright Cluster Association: "We have been in discussions with Aqua Virginia for close to two years. ... We feel that a local smaller company with a service phone that rings in Reston could operate and improve the RELAC system with no increase in rates."
See the RELAC page and a recent related cooling tower post on this website for additional information.