Dogwood Tour

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On October 16th representatives from the City of Garden City and the City of Russell along with KMEA staff members participated in a tour of the Dogwood Energy Facility. The Cities of Garden City, Gardner, Lindsborg, Ottawa and Russell have approved their cities’ participation in the Dogwood Project. KMEA is currently in the process of purchasing approximately 10.1% of the Dogwood Energy Facility which equates to approximately 62 Megawatts.  The 5 KMEA Member Cities’ shares are; Garden City 30MW, Gardner 20MW, Ottawa 5MW, Russell 5MW, and Lindsborg 2MW. Those in the photo who took the tour are Paul Mahlberg KMEA Staff, Matt Allen City Manager Garden City, Neal Daney KMEA Staff, Mike Muirhead Public Utilities Director Garden City, Duane Banks Electric Utility Director Russell, John Quinday City Manager Russell, and Mayor Melvin Dale Garden City. Everyone enjoyed the informative tour which lasted more than an hour. Dogwood Energy Facility is a 650MW combined cycle gas turbine electric generating plant located near Pleasant Hill, Missouri.

City of Chapman Department Heads Serve Lunch to High School Students

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City of Chapman department heads served lunch at the Chapman High School on October 10th as part of National School Lunch Week October 9-13.
City Administrator John Dudte
City Clerk Erin Tilton
Public Works Director Bobby Kamm

Public Power Week October 1 – 7, 2017

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Public power utilities across the U.S. celebrate Public Power Week the first full week of October every year to help customers and stakeholders understand how they can better engage with their community-owned utility and benefit from all its offerings.

American Public Power Association member utilities can use sample resources and templates to spread the word and help celebrate in your communities. https://www.publicpower.org/index.php/event/public-power-week

 

What’s in Your Electric Bill?

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Read more

Got Wind?

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Neal Daney, Director, Projects & Asset Management

The clock continues to tick to be eligible for a full value Production Tax Credit (PTC) wind project.  With the PTC’s, especially full value, wind developers are able to offer very competitive pricing terms.  The phase-down schedule is as follows:

 

  • Wind projects that started construction in 2015 and 2016 receive a full value PTC of 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour.
  • For projects that began construction in 2017, the credit is at 80% of full value.
  • In 2018, 60% PTC value and in 2019, 40% PTC.

 

The KMEA staff has identified an existing wind project that has full value PTC’s and competitive long-term pricing.  If you are interested in renewables or interested in a low cost energy hedge for a portion (5-20%) of your communities load, it is not too late to participate.

City of Lincoln Installs New Generation

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Out with the old and in with the new!  The new Cummins power unit is in place and operational, according to Jeff Ahring, City of Lincoln Power Plant Foreman. “The engine is now in place and operable, however there are some final adjustments that need to be made before the job is considered complete” he explained.

Moundridge along with other Kansas Municipalities Dispatched to Florida

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City of Moundridge Linemen and equipment along with several other municipal utilities have been dispatched to Orlando Florida to pre-stage in preparation of hurricane Irma. The city of Orlando like Moundridge has municipal owned utilities and Moundridge crews are being dispatched by American Public Power Association and FEMA region VII. Keep Moundridge Linemen Bill Greenfield, Logan Marcus, Quincy Estep and all of the Kansas Linemen in your thoughts and prayers as they pre-stage in the path the hurricane. (Courtesy of Randy Frazer, City Administrator, City of Moundridge)

2017 KMEA Annual Conference

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The 2017 KMEA Annual Conference will once again be held at the DoubleTree Hotel at the Wichita Airport.

Click Here to Register

KMEA/Power Engineers Complete 27 Distribution System Assessments

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KMEA and Power Engineers completed 27 Distribution System Assessments over the past several months.  Although there are several different variations of systems across the KMEA Membership, the most obvious aspects of these assessments were that all systems are in relatively good condition and are being operated by individuals who are dedicated to their communities and the systems they operate.