History

  • Executive Committee in 1985

 KMEA History

In 1980 Kansas Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA) was officially formed under Kansas law as a quasi-municipal corporation established as a nonprofit joint action agency made up of electric municipalities. KMEA has similar rules as a city — such as open meetings and open records.

The Agency was authorized by Act, to plan, finance and construct projects for the purchase, sale, generation and transmission of electricity for the purpose of securing an adequate, economical and reliable supply of electricity and other energy for its members.  The Agency was also authorized to issue and sell revenue bonds for the purpose of providing funds to pay all or part of the cost of the acquisition, purchase and construction of such projects.

In 1982, the Agency completed its first power supply project named the Nearman Project by purchasing 37.5 MW from the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities Nearman Unit Number 1.  Since 1983, the Agency has succeeded in bringing hydropower into the state from the Southwest Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration, along with numerous other power supply.  In 1998, KMEA was successful in having the original Act amended, which eliminated the need for its members to have a generating municipal electric utility. This change in legislation opened the doors for “distribution only” municipal electric systems to become KMEA members.

Today, over 80 Kansas Municipalities benefit from being members of KMEA.  By joining KMEA, these cities come together to strengthen their effectiveness in dealing with common challenges. Through the joint action approach, the cities employ the Agency to undertake projects that they would find impractical if attempted separately.

KMGA History

Kansas Municipal Gas Agency (KMGA) was founded in 1990 under the authority of the Kansas Interlocal Cooperative Act. The Agency was originally created by a group of 27 Kansas cities to jointly work in securing economical and reliable gas supply by forming a market pool for purchasing their natural gas.

In 1993, KMGA contracted with Kansas Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA) for the provision of management services.

KMGA’s primary goal is to protect member cities from volatile pricing by obtaining reliable, competitively priced natural gas for its member cities. KMGA currently has 50 member cities and manages supply for 31 municipal owned gas systems, 19 municipal owned power plants and one participant city. KMGA is diversified in its natural gas purchasing, adopting a strategy of hedging, index pricing, and daily market purchases. We also manage pipeline transportation services, storage contracts, and administer the daily scheduling and balancing processes.

Pipelines/distribution systems serving KMGA member cities include Atmos Energy, Black Hills Energy, Colorado Interstate Gas, Enable Midstream, Kansas Gas Service, Natural Gas Pipeline, Panhandle Eastern, and Southern Star Central.