Mar 20 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Alicia Robinson The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.

Norco officials should know in about three months whether the city can realistically build a plant that turns horse manure into power, after the City Council on Wednesday voted to study the idea.

Chevron Energy Solutions, a division of the oil company, has offered to do the study for free. The city estimates the offer would save it as much as $70,000.

The study is part of an agreement, unanimously approved by the council, which also gives Chevron the exclusive right for one year to negotiate with the city to design and build a plant.

"I think it would be a benefit to all horse owners if we did get something like this in Norco," Councilman Berwin Hanna said.

The council also agreed to develop the plant in cooperation with the Western Municipal Water District. If a waste-to-power plant is built, it would probably be adjacent to the water district's treatment plant near Norco and could help power it.

Norco City Council members hope a power plant would provide a solution to several issues, the biggest of which is what to do with their equestrian community's plentiful supply of horse manure.

The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2007 fined the city $78,000 for failing to comply with water-quality rules, in part because of manure. Residents who keep horses also worry about the cost of manure pickup.

The new study will not be the first for Norco. A 2004 city-commissioned study found the city could build a plant that uses anaerobic digestion -- a process involving bacteria -- but the city did not proceed. This study will evaluate other technologies that have advanced since then. A few residents said they were concerned that the council didn't take bids and that Norco would not have enough control over a plant if the city works with the water district.

"There's a lot of concerns here. We do need to take care of Norco first," resident Roy Hungerford said, adding that he thought it may not be a good idea for the city to partner with an oil company.

Council members said Chevron is well-qualified to do the study.