The City of Erie is the second city to achieve a historic milestone this year. 2015 marks the city’s 100 year anniversary of providing electric power to the residents of Erie. Only 45 member cities have reached the centennial milestone since KMEA began keeping records.
KMEA was privileged to honor the city with the presentation of an engraved plaque to Mayor Darrell Bauer at a recent city council meeting.
Even with the EIA reporting on Thursday a larger than expected withdraw volume from storage, natural gas prices continue to fall. US gas in storage fell 76 Bcf to 3,880 Bcf for the week ending December 4th. The withdrawal from storage was above consensus expectations of a pull between 59 Bcf and 63 Bcf.
Weather forecasts continue to indicate relatively weak demand. WSI’s 11 to 15 day forecast from Thursday showed above average temperatures across much of the central and eastern US. Analysts in the industry note that it’s going to be very warm in all the wrong places as the midcontinent and eastern US are typically the large consumers of natural gas this time of year.
Since November 1st, midcontinent daily index prices have averaged around $1.95 per MMBtu, with $1.705 being the lowest price posted during this time, and $2.155 being the highest price posted. Last year for this same time period, $3.21 was the lowest price posted and $4.695 was the highest posted price.
The projected average for the NYMEX futures monthly contracts is $2.66 per MMBtu for the next 24 months. During the winter months the futures contracts are forecasted to be around $3.00, and during the non-peak months they are projected to fall to around the $2.30 – $2.40 mark.
Left to right: Marty Springer and Don Cawby
Marty Springer, Power Plant Superintendent for the City of Osawatomie, celebrated his retirement with a reception on November 20th, among city officials and local residents at Osawatomie’s Memorial Hall. City Manager, Don Cawby, presented a proclamation recording Marty’s role in the city’s history.
Marty got his start with the city in 1977 as a power plant operator and was promoted to Power Plant Superintendent in 1995. Over the course of Marty’s 38-year career, he was responsible for maintaining and operating the water treatment plant as well as the power plant and transmission facility.
In addition to Marty’s dedicated service to Osawatomie, he was also devoted to public power, serving as a representative of Energy Management Power Project 1 of KMEA and other public utility organizations. Please join us in congratulating Marty on an outstanding career and best wishes in his retirement.
The City of Garnett has recently completed the replacement of a city distribution line from their south substation to the newly constructed hospital. The new line includes the addition of one new circuit and the upgrades of two 4160 circuits and one 2400 circuit. The new circuit was built with 477 ACSR wire to allow the city to tie into the north substation in the future which would allow the city to be fed from both directions. The poles and the three circuits that were upgraded date back to 1942. The new line is about one mile in length and cost approximately $500,000.
In addition to electrical upgrades, the city is installing a new sewer pump station to service the north side of Garnett. A 10 year improvement plan has been approved by the City Commission, which will see a minimum of $100,000 per year spent for improvements to Garnett’s collector system.
Finally, the City Commission has hired Ponzer & Youngquist Engineers to develop plans for a new water treatment plant. A preliminary plan has been provided for commission review. Their engineer and the city’s water plant superintendent have been busy touring new water plants to make sure they recommend the right facility for Garnett.
The City of Jetmore has come a long way since January of 2014 when they chose KMEA to be their power supplier.
In late 2014, after a lengthy RFP process, the City of Jetmore chose Farabee Mechanical as their supplier and installer of a reconditioned Fairbanks-Morse generator. Farabee, along with others, installed a 2.5 MW opposed piston engine and generator set, a new breaker, controls, switchgear, piping, a diesel day tank, and associated equipment. The generator is capable of serving the vast majority of the city’s required capacity as well as their energy needs in an emergency situation. The city invested approximately $995,000 in this project. Initial startup and testing is scheduled this month.
For those of you I have not had the pleasure to meet, I am Dixie Riedel, Director of Natural Gas, for KMGA. Among the more impactful and enjoyable opportunities I have is traveling to KMGA communities to provide personal consultation to our members. Whether it’s answering questions about a city’s natural gas system, calculation of rates, discussing services KMGA provides, or a host of other items of interest, city visits are always fruitful.
This Thursday, November 19th, I visited the City of Kechi and met with City Clerk, Laura Hill, and Finance Director, Mitch Kolf. After leaving Kechi,
I travelled to the City of Walton and met with City Clerk, Stephanie Ashby. Each city was interested in a review of their process for calculating rates. After evaluating each cities process, I recommended some changes to ensure that each city captures all costs associated with their natural gas supply when calculating rates. I also created and provided spreadsheets to each city in order to simplify their rate calculation process for their end-use customers.
Thanks to both cities for their hospitality, trust, and support. As I mentioned before, city visits always prove to be worthwhile and productive.
At KMEA’s November 5th Annual Conference Awards Banquet, we had the privilege of recognizing the milestone achievements of two member cities. The City of Attica and the City of Erie both reached the Centennial milestone this year, representing 100 years of public power. Attica wished to give credit and thanks to Mr. Harold Bauman who supplied the city with a treasured photo from 1958, featuring city employee, Keith Baringer, and city marshal, Jim Durdin, pictured inside the generator room of the Attica Municipal building.
Jason Wyatt, Attica City Superintendent, was present to accept the centennial plaque at the awards banquet. You can view this photo along with many other conference photos, which are now posted on the KMEA website. The photos are accessible from the home page of the kmea.com website or simply click here to view them.
The 2015 Gil Hanson Jr. Outstanding Service Award and Max Embree Distinguished Service Award were presented to two distinguished individuals, Greg DuMars and Duane Banks, respectively. We were honored to present the awards at the recent KMEA Annual Conference and we are privileged to recognize them here.
Greg has a long and distinguished record as an exceptional leader with respect to municipal joint action and serving his community, KMEA, and public power. In his 17 years as City Administrator for the City of Lindsborg, Greg has been deeply involved in the planning and design, not only of his city’s electric distribution system, but also the water and wastewater systems and numerous other street and community betterment projects. Greg honorably served as President of KMEA from 2010 – 2015. He currently serves on the KMEA Finance Committee and is the first-ever Chairman of the KMU Advisory Committee. He is viewed by the public power community across the state of Kansas as one of its top leaders and was one of eight winners of the 2015 American Public Power Association Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award.
Duane has served the city of Russell for 25 years, including nine years as a police officer and the last 16 years working in the Electric department. During his public power career he has held several positions and was promoted to his current position of Electric Utility Director in 2006. Duane has been involved with and has overseen many projects enhancing the city’s ability to serve its customers, including the construction of a natural gas turbine plant, the addition of a new substation, and upgrading three existing substations, just to name a few. Duane has been devoted to serving KMEA and the membership for many years as a member and Officer of the KMEA Executive Committee since 2010. Currently he is the President of the KMEA Executive Committee, Chairman of the Joint Board, and a member of the Power Supply Committee.
Last week, November 5-6, member cities attended the 2015 KMEA Annual Conference in Wichita and according to feedback from many conference goers, it was a successful event. The number of attendees was markedly up from last year, filling the meeting room to capacity. The format of this year’s conference was a departure from the past, bookended by the KMGA and KMEA Board of Directors meetings on day one and a tour of the Siemens Energy Wind turbine assembly facility on day two.
Keynote speaker, Lt. Colonel, Kevin Sweeney, a combat pilot in both Vietnam and Desert Storm, and the recipient of the United States Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, a medal awarded to fewer than 1% of pilots, kicked off the Conference. Kevin captivated the audience with his Dessert Storm night combat mission account when he successfully landed a plane with 2 engines ripped off the right wing. Following Kevin was Dennis Grennan, Vice President of HDR, with his presentation “Factors to consider for Owning Generation.” Next up was Paul Zummo, Manager of Policy Research & Analytics with APPA, who presented “Integrating Solar Technology.” Click here to go to the KMEA events site where you can view or download these two presentations. Kansas Municipal Utilities Executive Director, Colin Hansen, concluded the session with a legislative and regulatory update. The day was capped off with a Member appreciation reception and Awards banquet. Look for the Gil Hanson and the Max Embree Award recipients in our next feature. . .
To those of you who served in the U.S. Armed Forces who may be reading this, we want to take this opportunity to recognize, honor, and thank you for your service to our country.
As we approach Veterans Day this Wednesday, and drive through our communities taking notice of the prevalent American flags, the symbol of our freedom; everyone will have an opportunity to reflect on the brave men and women who served our country. Whether it’s someone in your family, a coworker or a neighbor, hopefully each of us will find men and women we can thank for their courage and sacrifice, which provided the freedom we enjoy today. We salute our veterans across the state of Kansas and across our free nation.
