Laserfiche WebLink
Elk River <br /> Municipal Utilities <br /> 13069 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 430 Phone: 763.441.2020 <br /> Elk River, MN 55330-0430 Fax: 763.441.8099 <br /> July 6, 2009 <br /> To: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission <br /> John Dietz <br /> Jerry Gumphrey <br /> Daryl Thompson <br /> From: Troy Adams <br /> Subject: Review and Consider Big Stone II Participation and Wholesale Power Supply Options <br /> In follow-up to the joint Council/Commission meeting on June 29th, this Special Commission <br /> Meeting has been scheduled. This meeting will allow the Utilities Commission to make a <br /> decision on whether or not to support participation in Big Stone II (BSII). If the Commission <br /> decides to support Big Stone II participation, the next step would be taking that decision to the <br /> Council at the scheduled joint meeting on July 13th and request Council support. <br /> To address some of the concerns mentioned at the previous meeting, Central Minnesota <br /> Municipal Power Agency (CMMPA)has provided some additional financing and cost recovery <br /> explanation. The financing explanation covers the costs and dates applicable to ERMU for <br /> participation in BSII. The cost recovery explanation covers different scenarios for the BSII <br /> project and how they would specifically impact ERMU. These scenarios include: The project <br /> going into service as planned, the project having a"No-Go"vote in September 2009, the project <br /> having a"Go"vote in September 2009 but not ever getting a shovel in the ground, the project <br /> being cancelled mid-construction, and the project being cancelled in 2016. Also included with <br /> this is a spreadsheet with an ERMU analysis on the impact of the third scenario to the ratepayers. <br /> This ERMU analysis confirms the CMMPA cost recovery analysis for this scenario. Central <br /> Minnesota Municipal Power Agency has also provided a report addressing job creation through <br /> the construction of BSII. Although these jobs are not in Elk River, the report has been provided <br /> for Commission review as supplemental information. <br /> Willmar Municipal Utilities has recently gone through the same decision making process that <br /> Elk River Municipal Utilities is currently going through. The City of Willmar is of similar <br /> population to Elk River and the electric utility is of similar size. Willmar Municipal Utilities has <br />