Public Power - October 2008 - (Page 38)

A Green Reincarnation The cost of rebuilding Greensburg could reach $65 million. Greensburg Municipal Electric Utility Business Strategy, concluded that the city should retain ownership of its electric utility. Then the city could obtain a new longterm wholesale power supply contract that would provide favorable terms for the use of locally generated wind power. By installing one or more large wind turbines, the city would have a visible source of green power, and would no longer be subject to the uncertainties and in- from the start, however. “Prior to the tornado, Greensburg’s power supply contract was with Sunflower Electric Cooperative,” said Colin Hansen with Kansas Municipal Utilities, the state public power association. “Sunflower has been working to build a 1,400-megawatt coal-fired plant that is currently embroiled in a huge state environmental battle.” In the days immediately following the tornado, Greensburg signed a tentative agreement with Southern Pioneer, a cooperative affiliated with Sunflower, to receive the assistance they needed to rebuild Greensburg’s destroyed electric distribution system. The agreement included a provision for Greensburg to sell off its municipal electric utility to Southern Pioneer once that project was complete, Hansen said. “We didn’t learn of this until after the City Council signed a memorandum of understanding with Southern Pioneer,” Hansen said. “Kansas Municipal Utilities got involved to let Greensburg know that they had a resource in their public power system that enabled them to set their own energy destiny at the local level, should that be 100 percent green or otherwise.” NREL initiated a project to evaluate Greensburg’s electricity options and to provide direction about whether or not the city should retain its municipal utility. NREL conducted a study to determine how Greensburg’s power needs could best be met while keeping with its goal of becoming a model of sustainability. The study, the 38 OCTOBER 2008 Kansas Municipal Utilities urged Greensburg officials to rethink their plan to sell the municipal electric utility. creases in electricity based on coal or natural gas prices. The report concluded that Kansas Power Pool, a joint action agency, could potentially provide such a contract to provide load and generation services and power purchase rates based on energy needs only, rather Cathy Swirbul, based in Kansas City, specializes than energy and peak demand. in writing for the power industry. With a favorable new wholesale power supply contract, the city would likely be able to install from large wind turbines with little, if any, need for electric rates higher than if there were no turbines, the study stated. It would take about 4 megawatts of wind generation to provide the equivalent of 100 percent of the The storm left 1,400 residents homeless. PUBLIC POWER city’s electricity—although the city plans to add 12 to 15 megawatts of wind power. Kansas Power Pool will buy any excess generation, said Hewitt. And when the wind is not blowing, the city will buy hydro power from Kansas Power Pool. Ironically, the very force of nature that nearly destroyed the city would now be harnessed to help power Greensburg. As word of Greensburg’s sustainability plans spread, the U.S. media has beat a path to Greensburg’s door. Nearly every major media outlet including USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio, have sent media crews to capture Greensburg’s green transformation. Additionally, the Discovery Channel featured a 13-part series, “Eco-Town”, on Greensburg. The series ran on the channel’s new network, Planet Green, in the summer of 2008. The Sundance Channel produced five Web shows featuring environmental journalist Simran Sethi interviewing residents on the green initiative. The shows can be found at www.sundancechannel.com/thegoodfight. This past year has contained a flurry of rebuilding activity, and city leaders and residents are generally hopeful about the future. Greensburg was nearly destroyed by the forces of nature in 2007. Now, creating a healthy balance with nature and the environment just might be the key to Greensburg’s survival and its growth. T http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegoodfight http://www.sundancechannel.com/thegoodfight

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - October 2008

Public Power - October 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions The Future of Fuels in a Carbon-Constrained World An Energy Revolution Energy Policy in 2009 and Beyond A Green Reincarnation Beyond the Green Bandwagon Reliability Green Energy Community Broadband Customer Service Hometown Connections Human Resources Parting Shot

Public Power - October 2008

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