Innovative Wastewater Treatment Plant Addition
Mead and White Electric Celebrates Opening of Innovative Wastewater Treatment Plant Addition
On April 14, 2026 the Benton Harbor/Saint Joseph Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new, innovative biogas digester and electric generators. Mead and White Electric was privileged to be the electrical contractor for this sustainability effort in the Great Lakes region.
Through its decades-long working relationship with the Wastewater Treatment Plant providing vital electrical maintenance services, Mead and White Electric is proud to have been the electrical contractor of choice on this enhancement project. Combined Heat and Power Systems (CHP), like this one, are complex and require collaboration between multiple engineering and contracting firms to provide a successful outcome.
The extensive collaboration of Mead and White Electric with the engineering firm AECOM, general contractor L.D. Docsa Associates, Inc, as well as Clarke Energy and Hurst Mechanical helped to make this project a reality. The $9.4 million project was self-funded by the Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant and, by using the digester gases produced by the waste to generate usable electrical and thermal energy, will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions previously produced by Plant operations. This project will also generate potential income for the Plant as it optionally sells electrical power it does not use back to the local Utility to support the power needs of the local community.
Mead and White Electric would like to offer our thanks to the many trade partners involved with this project. Without everyone’s cooperation and involvement, this would have been an even more challenging project. To the staff of the Wastewater Plant, thank you for your patience during the interrupting process of this construction project and for your cooperation during the electrical integration processes. A BIG thank you to the staff of L.D. Docsa, who have been great to work with! We appreciate your partnership! To the folks at AECOM, thank you for administering this project for the owner and construction team! A special shout out to John H. (AECOM electrical engineer). You were so helpful figuring out the design requirements as unforeseen changes arose. Thank you for your involvement. To the guys at Clark Energy and Hurst Mechanical, you guys were so easy to work with and coordinate with as we integrated all our systems together. Thank you and we look forward to partnering with you again soon! Last, but certainly not least, a HUGE thank you to Windemuller, Inc. for your automation/integration services you provided! The many, patient hours James V. contributed brought together so many confusing parts of this project. Thank you all for making this a great project to be a part of!