Archive for category: General Information

Wes Keely, Gas Systems operator for the City of Winfield, recently received an award for 40 years of dedicated public service from the League of Kansas Municipalities at an awards luncheon.

Wes’ career in public service is an interesting one to be sure, beginning in Winfield as a policeman in 1975 and then a fireman in 1979 where he spent the next five years. In 1984, Wes started working in the Winfield Gas Distribution Department. Wes continued to progress in the department and was promoted to his current title of gas system operator specialist in 1992.

Wes’ daughter Ray Ann and wife Debbie were on hand to celebrate this momentous occasion with him. Please join us in congratulating Wes on receiving this distinguished award and for his many years of public service. Congratulations Wes!

The City of Kiowa is the newest member city of KMEA as well as the EMP3 group. Kiowa was first accepted as a member of the EMP3 group at the September 4^th EMP3 meeting and then became an official member of KMEA on October 9^th.

Kiowa has a population of 1,026 and is located in Barber County, Kansas in the south-central part of the state, about 90 miles southwest of Wichita. Please join us in congratulating and welcoming the City of Kiowa to KMEA and the EMP3 group.

The future looks bright for Osawatomie’s electric utility with the city council’s recent approval to issue $6.8 million in electric utility revenue bonds. The bonds will be used to finance upgrades to the energy generation and distribution system.

The upgrades will really strengthen Osawatomie’s electric utility. The improvements include the purchase of seven two-megawatt diesel-engine generators, construction of a substation as well as a shop building, and repairing and overhauling generators. These improvements will increase Osawatomie’s generation capabilities, generate surplus energy and is expected to bring in additional revenue to the tune of $100,000 to $200,000. It’s always good to see cities like Osawatomie investing in their electric utility.

Every month KMEA participates in the Energy Management Project Group meetings for EMP 1, EMP 2, and EMP 3, however, last week KMEA hosted a Joint EMP meeting, bringing all three EMPs together in Kansas City. The joint meeting was well attended and included a full agenda.

KMEA kicked off the meeting with market report presentations, followed by a congestion and transmission hedging activity presentation. KMEA went on to share the status of several projects that are in progress for the EMPs. The meeting also included a KMEA website demonstration of the recently launched Sharfile system, which provides a virtual file cabinet to all KMEA member cities.

The joint meeting concluded with status updates from EMP 1 Chairman, Bob Mills, EMP 2 Chairman, Jeff Scott, and EMP 3 Chairman, Matt Rehder. The Joint EMP meeting offered a great opportunity to provide topical demonstrations and presentations and allowed for information exchange between the EMPs. We would like to thank everyone who took time out to attend the joint meeting, particularly those who drove a great distance to attend.

Public Power Week is just around the corner, celebrated the first full week in October every year. This year Public Power week is October 4 -10, 2015. This is an opportunity for public power utilities to remind their communities of the value and distinct advantages that public power offers. Public power has a rich history in the United States. Locally owned public power utilities have been around for over 100 years and the number of utilities has grown rapidly. Today, 49 States (all but Hawaii) have a public power system and comprise a collection of more than 2000 community-owned electric utilities, serving over 45 million people.

First and foremost, we at KMEA want to thank you, our member cities, for all the hard work you do day in and day out to further the cause of public power and joint action for the betterment of your communities. On the KMEA website “Events “ tab, Click here you will find Public Power Week APPA links that provide great templates and other resources that you may find useful. Among the resources you will find are sample letters, which also provide great talking points to express your appreciation to your public utilities team. Everyone should share in the recognition and appreciation. Once more, all should feel proud to be a part of such and honorable profession. Thank you for all do!