Granite Falls City Council members moved quickly in order to snatch up a favorable wind-based Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) that will assist the City in meeting the state’s renewable energy standards through 2032.
Minnesota’s Next Generation Act mandates that 25 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by the year 2025, and entails a series of subsequent benchmarks thereafter.
The motion to accept the PPA occurred during Monday’s regularly scheduled council meeting, and came as a result of a recommendation by the Central Minnesota Municipal Power Purchasing Agency (CMMPA) of which Granite Falls is a member.
The CMMPA is a coalition of 12 municipal utilities who purchase energy as a collective in order to obtain economies of scale.
According to City Manager Bill Lavin, the council did not receive a letter informing them of the opportunity until late Friday, which did not allow the City representatives much time to consider the overture. Nevertheless, the letter from CMMPA Director of Operations Steve Thompson, which stated that the proposal has been the “strongest” received by the agency to date and that there is “reason to believe that this offer will not last long,” was enough to persuade the council to agree to a contract contingent on no additional cost being incurred.
Terms agreement
Mayor Dave Smiglewski said that despite the purchase of the wind generated energy the City will continue to seek opportunities to build its own wind tower(s) that would assist in providing for a portion of the City’s approximate 7 MW electrical load.
The flow to Granite Falls would be generated by a 71 turbine, 149 MW wind farm currently operating out of Rugby, North Dakota. The $300 million farm was recently purchased by Iberdrola Renewables Inc., the largest wind provider in the world.
In the United States, Iberdrola is headquartered out of Portland, OR, but worldwide is stationed out of Bilbao, Spain. According to the CMMPA letter, the energy provider owns more 10,000 MWs of wind power in 23 countries.
Other news:
Prentice St. study
Council members approved an estimated $37,500 engineering study that will begin exploring options for protecting the homes located along river side Prentice Street between the site of the old City Hall to fourth street.
Engineering company, Rodeberg & Berryman, Inc. were commissioned to do the study, which includes gathering data, topographic mapping, cost estimates and other items. It is expected that the study will be completed in late spring of this year.
