Archive for category: General Information

This has been a busy but very productive week. On Tuesday staff attended the KMU Day at the Capitol along with the staff of KMU, KPP, and other city representatives.  It was a great opportunity to learn about the issues affecting public utilities that will be considered during this year’s legislative session. The most prominent issue is the State budget and how the lawmakers plan to close the gap between income and spending not only in the current fiscal year but in the coming years. There are several issues on the utility front not the least of which is the EPA Clean Power Plan. We heard from Gary Mason of the KDHE about how KDHE and KCC are working together to craft a plan for Kansas that is acceptable to the EPA. We learned of other issues including new water rules and regulations and the latest on Kansas’ approach to Cyber security for power plants. We also attended a KMEA Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday in Topeka and an EMP3 meeting on Thursday in Seneca. What a great week and we really enjoyed seeing everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Paula Campbell, Senior Energy Controller for KMEA is celebrating her 25 year anniversary with the Agency and we would like to take this opportunity to recognize her contributions. Paula plays an integral part in managing the loads and generators of the KMEA member cities. Yet much of what she does is behind the scenes, so few people understand the key role she plays.

As Senior Energy Controller, Paula has the day-to-day responsibility of helping manage the EMP groups along with contract power from numerous sources including GRDA, SPA, KCPL, Westar and SECI. With the new SPP IM, Paula’s responsibilities have changed along with the market. She has become more active in attending monthly meetings, manages the 120+ generators within the EMP groups and working with meter agents to verify accuracy of load and generation data submitted to the SPP market.

Many people are not aware that Paula volunteered to go on call 24/7 back in November 1997 when the Nearman unit went off-line and power prices spiked. The days of working normal business hours had come to an end. Paula covered the on-call responsibility by herself until a second full time energy controller was added in 2006.

For Paula, her relationship with the cities is the most rewarding aspect of her job. Her excellent communication skills have helped her build trust and camaraderie between KMEA and the member cities she serves. “I truly value the friendships I have developed over the years,” Paula recently commented.

Wow how things have changed in the electric generation industry. In years past natural gas was not looked at as a baseload product, but rather a supplement, when it came to electric generation. Today all that has changed.

Natural gas has not only become a strong force in the energy industry, the Energy Information Administration reports that natural gas has become the cheapest source of power production. The EIA has calculated that to build a 1000 Megawatt gas fired power plant it would cost approximately $869 million. To construct a 1000MW coal plant would cost $2.72 billion and $4.64 billion for a nuclear plant of equal size.

Compressed natural gas powers more vehicles, busses and business fleets across America today than ever before. Exporting liquid natural gas has expanded the industry a great deal as well. Exploration for crude oil and natural gas may be down but production has kept the commodities at or near historic lows.

Yes it all looks good now for the consumer but how long will it last? That is a question I wish we could answer. Diversity is still the key to managing a smart power supply portfolio.

After suddenly being kicked off the grid in the wee hours of Monday morning, December 14th, the City of Jetmore saw firsthand the value of having behind the meter generation. According to City Administrator, Michael Ort, the city’s newly installed generator picked up the city load, running from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

“We completed the testing on the new engine and generator on November 20th. As luck would have it, it was just in time for us to put it to good use. We are very pleased and grateful to have the new engine online, ready to serve the residents of Jetmore.” Jetmore recently invested $995,000 installing a 2.5 MW opposed piston engine and generator set, a new breaker, controls, switchgear, piping, a diesel day tank, and associated equipment.