Author Archive for: KMEA

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Southwest Power Pool (SPP), responsible for coordinating electric reliability in a 14-state area in the central United States, expects to have enough generation to meet energy demand this winter.

SPP conducts an assessment each year to identify and mitigate threats to energy reliability during the winter season lasting from December to March. The analysis considers factors such as historical and predicted future electricity use, weather forecasts, the variability of available wind energy, drought conditions and generation and transmission outages.

Based on its assessment results, SPP anticipates a 98.5% probability that it will have sufficient resources to meet the projected peak demand for electricity and maintain energy reserves throughout the upcoming winter season. SPP further anticipates an even greater chance that it can meet region-wide demand with the help of reserves if needed.

This winter’s forecast represents an increase in SPP’s operational certainty over the past two seasonal assessments (winter 2023/24 and summer 2024). Weather forecasts, peak demand projections, expected generation availability and other trends suggest the region will have a greater margin between electricity demand and generating capacity than in the previous two peak seasons.

Marie Seneca, the mayor for the City of Pomona was the recipient of the Gilbert E. Hanson award this year. She has been serving as Mayor of the city since 2010. Marie’s civic journey started in 2007, when she joined the governing body as a council person, and then stepped up to fulfill the remaining term of the Mayor just 3 short years later. She’s remained steadfast in that role ever since, and her vision and leadership have set a high standard for the city’s future among city employees and citizens alike.

Recently we learned about the Three Mile Island nuclear facility recommissioning one of the reactors to sell energy to Microsoft to support their efforts in AI. Google and Amazon have recently announced their investments in small modular reactors. These SMRs are built as a unit making them quicker to produce and easier to install. It appears that nuclear may be taking the lead to support the need for a huge amount of energy to support AI data centers

The conference held on October 23 and 24, 2024, in Wichita, Kansas, was a significant event that brought together member cities, vendors from the energy world and KMEA/KMGA staff. Hosted at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview, the conference featured a packed schedule filled with insightful sessions and networking opportunities.

The conference kicked off with  KMGA and KMEA Board of Directors meetings.

The evening featured a reception and a recognition banquet, where the award winners were recognized for the significant contributions they made to their communities.

This award was established in 2016, in honor of Ron Huxman.  Ron played a leading role in the day-to-day activities of the agency, as well as serving as President, Executive Committee member and Joint Board member.  The award honors his contributions to KMGA and is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and devoted service to both KMGA and to the Municipal Natural Gas Industry.

This year’s recipient of the Ron Huxman award was Jodi Wade, the City Clerk of the City of LaCygne. Jodi has played a crucial role in various aspects of city management, from budgeting and staffing to maintenance and community projects. Her tenure as City Clerk has seen her participate in many city projects including a major water project, a major sewer project, a CCLIP intersection project, and currently a sewer lagoon project in addition to a pending application for a grant to tackle a water plant project. Jodi’s dedication to her community is also evident in her contributions to local recreation, which includes the development of new public facilities.