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i <br /> Elk River <br /> Municipal Utilities UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING <br /> TO: FROM: <br /> Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission Troy Adams, P.E. —General Manager <br /> John Dietz—Chair <br /> Al Nadeau—Vice Chair <br /> Daryl Thompson—Trustee <br /> MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER: <br /> November 17, 2015 6.1a <br /> SUBJECT: <br /> Staff Updates—General Manager <br /> DISCUSSION: <br /> • The Board of Directors of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency(MMPA)met on <br /> October 27, 2015 in Shakopee, Minnesota. <br /> MMPA's Hometown BioEnergy(HTBE) facility was awarded the municipal Biogas <br /> Project of the Year award by the American Biogas Council. The award was presented to <br /> the Board at the meeting. <br /> In October,the Agency closed on a Power Purchase Agreement(PPA) for an 8 to 10 MW <br /> solar project located in Buffalo, Minnesota. <br /> MMPA also closed on the purchase of land in Shakopee, Minnesota for its distributed <br /> generation project. <br /> • The award winning MMPA HTBE facility was the subject of a critical Star Tribune <br /> article. The article cites facility run statistics suggesting that this facility is a failure <br /> because it runs well below capacity. These stats are completely irrelevant because this <br /> facility was designed to be dispatchable, meaning that it runs when economic conditions <br /> are favorable. The plant was designed to run during peak times and not 24 hours per day. <br /> It is unfortunate that lack of understanding of the industry leads to speculation and <br /> negative press. The article is attached. Also attached is another award this facility was <br /> recognized with a year ago. <br /> It is true,however,that MMPA is working on resolving odor issues related to this plant. <br /> ERMU had similar challenges when our Landfill Gas-to-Electric Power Plant began <br /> operations over a decade ago. We ended up adding a"smog hog"exhaust filter to remove <br /> odor. <br /> • The Field Engineer position included in the 2015 budget for an early first quarter hire has <br /> been on hold. This position was created to supplement skills needed in the Technical <br /> P D W E B E D BY <br /> Page 1 oft NATURE <br /> Reliable Public <br /> Power Provider 5 P O W E R E D T O S ERV E <br />