Solar Energy – From the Archives
Interestingly, a news clipping about Solar Energy, preserved as a keepsake during the days of the Korean War, was recently shared with KMEA. Note the caption of the article from the Tuesday, April 7, 1953 Pacific Stars & Stripes publication, titled “Solar Energy Switch Hailed by Scientists.” Back in 1953, the solar energy conversion efficiency was very low, however, the concluding sentence of the article makes a rather prophetic statement: “The new method (solar energy) converts about 1 percent of the sunlight absorbed into chemical energy. But there is no obvious reason why the efficiency cannot be increased to such an extent that the method may become of economic importance.”
Today, the conversion rate is in the neighborhood of 25% and new technologies continue to emerge that could harvest more of the sun’s energy. The industry has been considering solar energy for decades and is still dealing with the “economic importance” issue. We are thrilled to have APPA’s Paul Zummo as one of our featured speakers at the KMEA Annual Conference, who will be giving a solar presentation.
Rod Willis, City Manager for Osage City, was appointed as an at large member of the KMGA Executive Committee at the August 18th Executive Committee Meeting. Rod was appointed to fill Mike Gilliland’s unexpired term through May 2017. Rod brings a wealth of leadership and municipality experience. Prior to accepting the City Manager position for Osage City in June of 2014, Rod was the City Manager of Sterling for eight years. Additionally, Rod served on the city council and was the Mayor of Sterling for three terms. Rod is a worthy and welcome addition to the KMGA Executive Committee.
Chris Lowe, Baldwin City Administrator and KMEA Executive Committee Vice President, recently announced that he has accepted the position of Town Manager of Monument, Colorado, a city of about 5,800, north of Colorado Springs. Baldwin City has been home to Chris and his family since July 2011, when he was hired as Baldwin City Administrator. Chris’ dedication and commitment to improving Baldwin City is evidenced by his long list of accomplishments. Numerous city revitalization projects were completed during Chris’ four years, including street reconstruction, expansion of the public library, upgrades to the municipal golf course, city parks and city power and sewer plants, just to name a few. Chris also improved the city’s finances and renegotiated the city’s wholesale water agreement with the city of Lawrence, reducing Baldwin City’s wholesale water rate by 25%.
Hello, I’m Paul Mahlberg, your new General Manager here at KMEA/KMGA and I’d like to introduce myself and give you a little of my background. I’m originally from Harlan, Iowa – a community of approximately 5,000 people in the southwest part of the State. I attended college at Iowa State University and received a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering in 1988.
KMEA staff recently traveled to the EMP2 monthly meeting hosted by the City of Hoisington. The meeting was productive and well attended. As we reflected on the meeting during our drive back east we felt compelled to tell their story. EMP2 was born in 2007 and has grown to 12 cities including Ashland, Beloit, Garden City, Hoisington, Lincoln, Meade, Osborne, Pratt, Russell, Sharon Springs, Stockton, and Washington. The EMP2 group, led by Chairman Jeff Scott of Stockton and Vice-Chairman Scott Nuzum of Osborne, work collaboratively with the other city representatives to reap greater benefits for their respective municipal electric customers. By working together towards this common goal they have successfully coordinated an interconnected electric system. We admire their dedication and commitment and it is our privilege to work with the EMP2 group.
