05/2/08
The first commercial power station opened in San Francisco in 1876. Baldwin City set up its power company in 1906, and more than a century later, the way residents receive electricity hasn’t changed much.
RELATED STORIES City-owned utilities allows for repairs, higher power bills <a href="https://www.thebakerorange.com/media/storage/paper1028/news/2008/05/02/Features/CityOwned.Utilities.Allows.For.Repairs.Higher.Power.Bills-3360943.shtml"> City-owned utilities allows for repairs, higher power bills </a> City-owned utilities allows for repairs, higher power bills
When mercury rises, Baker scrambles to avoid fines<a href="http://media.www.thebakerorange.com/media/storage/paper1028/news/2008/05/02/Features/When-Mercury.Rises.Baker.Scrambles.To.Avoid.Fines-3360936.shtml"> When mercury rises, Baker scrambles to avoid fines</a> When mercury rises, Baker scrambles to avoid fines
Electricity is vital to residents and businesses, but the production of it is also vital to the city.
“As far as single operations, utilities is the biggest operations that we have,” City Administrator Jeff Dingman said.
The annual city budget is $14 million, and the electricity budget is $4 million.
While other cities bring in electricity from a larger company, Baldwin City has been able to produce its own power since the first light bulb flicked on in town. Until 1995, the old power plant ran constantly to produce electricity. Dingman said now the Baldwin City power plant operates as a peaking station, producing electricity only when usage exceeds the amount it purchases. The city purchases 5.5 megawatts on contract from the Kansas City Board of Utilities and the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma.
Because the city has the ability to produce its own power, it is able to get a lower rate on the power it buys.
“The rates fluctuate, but (it costs) about $30 per megawatt,” Dingman said. “If we’re generating that with our own generators, we’d have to put in the factor of wear and tear on our machines and labor. It would cost us anywhere from $80 to $100 to generate on our own.”
If the city needs more than the 5.5 megawatts it has purchased, Dingman said that is when the city generates its own electricity. If more electricity is needed beyond the capacity of the city’s generators, which can generate 6 megawatts, then power is bought through Kansas City Power and Light.
In 2004, the city considered scrapping its 98-year-old system and selling the utility.
“They did talk at that point, before they had committed to build the substations, about selling the utility,” Dingman said. “They decided not to and invest into contracts with KCP&L and the other things in order to increase the megawatts we have for base-load capacity.”
Councilman Tony Brown was against building the new power plant in 2004, but at the time he was not on the council.
“In retrospect, I think I was on the wrong side of the issue,” Brown said.
Now, Brown thinks the benefits of autonomy outweigh the negatives.
Despite the high costs, Dingman believes having the equipment and personnel to get electricity back to customers after the power goes out without relying on another company makes Baldwin City’s power setup worth it.
“When the ice storm came through in January, a lot of the surrounding areas were down for several hours, but we were able to clear our lines and start generating within a couple of hours,” Dingman said.
Brown said he remembers citizens being torn, with half being in favor of the new power plant and half being against. In the end, the new power plant was built south of town at 1100 Orange St.
Former power plant operator Kevin Bennett was also against the new plant, which features diesel-run generators. Nearly 10 years before the new plant was built, he had analyzed the old plant’s effectiveness.
“I told them at that time to sell everything they had and put in a turbine,” Bennett said. “It would operate for generations to come, but they bought two more diesel engines.”
Bennett said the turbine operation would have been more economically feasible because turbines usually require less maintenance, but more importantly, they would not be run on expensive diesel fuel. While he was operating the plant, he once used 7,000 gallons of diesel in a two-day time frame.