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example, generated power from agricultural and <br /> food processing waste products. The LeSueur <br /> facility, one of the largest in the country to <br /> employ an anaerobic digestion process, had <br /> been developed by Minneapolis-based Avant <br /> Energy. According to Kelsey Dillon, Avant's <br /> vice president of bio-power, "we're generating <br /> valuable, renewable and dispatchable on-peak <br /> electricity with this process." She explained that <br /> "at optimal times when the power is needed and <br /> its value is highest, we draw off the biogas from <br /> storage to fuel the generators."157 This was a <br /> distinct advantage over solar and wind, where <br /> w. <br /> storage was problematic. <br /> ERMU made the difficult decision to not <br /> renegotiate the contract terminated by Connexus <br /> Energy because the MMPA was a better fit with <br /> ERMU's philosophy and needs. This did not, <br /> however, mark a complete break of the old <br /> Hometown BioEnergy Facility relationship. ERMU, GRE, and Connexus have <br /> in Le sueur,Minnesota continued to collaborate on mutually beneficial <br /> (Avant Energy) proj ects. <br /> In early 2014, ERMU went through a Moody's rating call as part of an Electric Revenue Bond <br /> Refunding. Moody's affirmed ERMU's Aa3 rating. Moody's noted ERMU's decision to join the <br /> MMPA in 2018 and not renegotiate a wholesale power contract with its current provider as a <br /> contributor to this solid rating. <br /> Reflection on a Century of Service <br /> Fred Waterman created Elk River Power and Light in 1915 and started generating power from <br /> the new hydroelectric plant in 1916. The community could not have imagined ERMU's <br /> incredible growth and diversification in the following century. An increasing service area and <br /> higher electric demand made it impractical for ERMU to continue generating all of its electricity, <br /> and it began to obtain power from wholesale providers. Now, ERMU purchases all of its <br /> electricity. It also owns generation facilities that include a landfill-gas-to-electricity facility and a <br /> dual-fuel diesel/natural-gas power plant from which the energy is sold back to GRE. <br /> ERMU has also increased its conservation efforts in recent years,providing innovative <br /> stewardship of the earth's limited resources. Initiatives like the Wellhead Protection Program <br /> protect the quality of Elk River's natural resources. Other programs, like Project Conserve, foster <br /> responsible energy use through education and technology. <br /> 151"MMPA Producing Power from Food Processing,Agricultural Waste,"Public Power Daily,February 7,2014. <br /> 45 <br />