Kansas Public Power Communities Receive Funds for Grid Resiliency

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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly recently announced that public power communities in the state will receive funding for energy grid resilience.

The overall more than $17 million investment, which will also provide funding to electric cooperatives, combines nearly $12 million in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s 40101(d) Grid Resilience Grant Program and more than $5.8 million in matching funds from the Kansas Infrastructure Hub and Build Kansas Fund.

The public power community projects receiving grid resiliency funding are:

City of Garden City – Underground Conductor and Transformer Replacement

    • Build Kansas Funding – $302,590
    • Federal Funding Awarded – $626,048
    • Total Project – $928,638

City of Pratt – Substation Hardening

    • Build Kansas Funding – $1,034,551
    • Federal Funding Awarded – $2,140,449
    • Total Project – $3,175,000
    • Federal Funding Awarded – $414,627
    • Total Project – $615,030

Holton Electric – Transformer and Feeder Circuit Improvements

    • Build Kansas Funding – $796,360
    • Federal Funding Awarded – $1,647,640
    • Total Project – $2,444,000

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KMGA 2024 Awards Recipients

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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.

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KMEA 2024 Award Recipients

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This award was established in honor of Max Embree, of Colby Kansas who played a leading role in the early years of KMEA.  The award honors his memory and is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and devoted service to both KMEA and Public Power.

This year’s recipient of the Max Embree Distinguished Service Award was Jon Quinday, the City Manager for the City of Russell. Jon has served in many positions within his community, starting as a police officer and over the years working his way up to city manager. For 12 years, he managed a full-service municipality with over 90 employees and an annual budget exceeding $30 million, and encompassing electric, water, wastewater, sewer, and sanitation utilities, along with county-wide 911 communications. Through all his various roles including former school board president and board member for both Kansas Municipal Utilities and Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, and President of the KMEA Executive Committee, he’s gained firsthand insight into the complexities of municipal governance.

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KMEA/KMGA Board of Directors meetings

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The KMEA and  KMGA Board of Directors meetings are just around the corner. The meetings will be held in conjunction with KMEA/KMGA Annual Conference on October 23rd in Wichita, KS.

We encourage you to sign up for your attendance by following the link below whether you plan to attend in person or virtually.  This helps us ensure we will have quorum for both the KMGA and the KMEA board of directors meetings.

Thank you for your dedication to the agency and support of all of the membership.

We look forward to seeing you all in Wichita

Celebrating Public Natural Gas Week: October 6-12, 2024

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In 2024, Public Natural Gas Week is celebrated from October 6-12. This nationwide event organized by the American Public Gas Association (APGA) aims to generate enthusiasm and awareness about the advantages of public natural gas systems. These systems are locally owned and operated, ensuring that the benefits of natural gas such as affordability, reliability, and efficiency are directly passed on to the community.

We wanted to use this annual observance as an opportunity to highlight the numerous benefits of public natural gas systems and to recognize the hard work of the local utilities that provide this essential service.

Happy Public Natural Gas Week!

Three Mile Island is reopening and selling its power to Microsoft

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Three Mile Island, the site of worst nuclear disaster in the United States, is reopening and will exclusively sell the power to Microsoft as the company searches for energy sources to fuel its AI ambitions.

Constellation Energy announced Friday that its Unit 1 reactor, which closed five years ago, is expected to be revived in 2028, dependent on Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. Microsoft will purchase the carbon-free energy produced from it to power its data centers to support artificial intelligence.

Financial terms of the 20-year agreement, which Constellation called its largest ever, weren’t disclosed.

“Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise,” said Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez in a press release.

Clean energy advocates and businesses alike are looking towards nuclear energy as a source of zero-carbon power that is a reliable baseload source. A big pro is that nuclear is able to stay on at all times of the day and night, unlike wind and solar.

However, nuclear has drawn criticism for environmental groups for decades for its waste. The US still has no permanent repository for that waste, instead storing it at over 70 operating and shuttered plants around the nation.

Reopening of the Unit 1 reactor will add 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and add more than 800 megawatts of electricity to the grid, according to Constellation. It’s also expected to add $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s GDP, where the plant is located.

Shares of Constellation (CEG) soared more than 16% in midday trading.

Three Mile Island, located near Harrisburg, is best known for being the most serious accident at a commercial nuclear power plant in US history when it experienced the partial meltdown of one of its two reactors. Unit 2 reactor, which is adjacent to Unit 1, has remained closed since 1979 following the disaster.

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Annual Gathering of KMEA and KMGA Executive Committees

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Today, the KMEA office in Overland Park hosted the annual gathering of the KMEA Executive Committee, the KMGA Executive Committee, and the Joint Board for Administration. The KMGA Executive Committee, led by President Gus Collins from the City of Winfield, consists of 7 dedicated members. The KMEA Executive Committee, with 9 members, is currently presided over by Jon Quinday.

We at KMEA and KMGA extend our gratitude to all Executive Committee members for their dedication and commitment to the municipal world. Your efforts are truly appreciated!

Ottawa’s STAG unit was designated as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by ASME

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On September 13, 2024 the City of Ottawa held a designation ceremony at the city’s auditorium. Their combined cycle turbine was designated as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) recognizing its pivotal role in the evolution of combined cycle power plants.

The combined cycle was the world’s first pre-engineered gas-turbine to enter service. It was the first of only two STAG 103s (steam and gas) made by GE. The second was installed by the City of Hutchinson, Minnesota in 1971. Ottawa logged only about 11,000 operating hours after hitting its 100,000-hr milestone at the end of 1993. This industry icon was retired in place in 2020, after spending two decades in standby service. It was started periodically for training and equipment-preservation purposes. Hutchinson’s STAG 103 was taken out of service in 2019 and now is being dismantled.

The ceremony was well attended and afterwards a tour of the power plant was provided where everyone got to see the STAG unit.

2024 Annual Conference is coming up

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The registration for KMEA/KMGA  annual conference is open. The conference will be held on October 23rd and 24th at the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview in Wichita, KS. This event is a fantastic opportunity for networking, learning, and sharing best practices with fellow members.

Important Dates:

  • Conference Dates: October 23-24
  • Registration Deadline: September 20th

Please click on the link below for more information and to register.

We look forward to seeing you in Wichita!

Click HERE to register today!

KMEA members generate during Energy Emergency Alert 1 event

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On August 26th, effective at 12:30 p.m., the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) announced an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 (EEA 1) due to the forecast of high peak loads caused by high temperatures, an increase in resource outages, and low output from wind and other variable energy resources (also known as a low VER forecast) leading into the peak hours for the day. An EEA 1 declaration does not require the public to conserve energy and does not indicate that SPP will be directing controlled service outages. Instead, an EEA 1 is an indication that while SPP has enough generation available to meet demand and fulfill its reserve obligations, conditions exist that could put reserves at risk if they worsen.

Once notified, the KMEA 24-hour Operations group relayed the grid condition to all KMEA cities via email and additionally began contacting by phone all cities with non-registered generation to make them aware of the possibilities of dispatches. All of our registered generation was either online or dispatched for future hours of the day.

According to KMEA Operations Director Tom Saitta, “All our member cities asked to run did not hesitate, and all others stood ready to help. Our cities’ generation performed great with over 100 MW of generation at peak.”

SPP ended the EEA event at 3:00 p.m. with no non-registered generation being dispatched. In total, KMEA member cities generated approximately 503 MWh with a peak generation of 101 MW.