City, state cut deal on wind energy

As part of an agreement the city inked with the Sierra Club to get the Dallman 4 power plant built, Springfield and the state agreed to share the costs of wind power.

Now, more than two years later, the state and Springfield have finally struck a tentative deal.

“I’ve waited so long for this day,” City Water, Light and Power general manager Todd Renfrow told the city council utilities committee recently, noting he had struggled to reach agreement with the state under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.

The proposed 10-year agreement is on the Springfield City Council’s agenda for emergency passage at tonight’s meeting. Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Tim Davlin will participate in a signing ceremony Wednesday, Renfrow said.

“The governor is committed to greening the state of Illinois,” Quinn’s office said in a statement Monday evening. “This agreement allows the state to carry out an obligation made by the previous administration to convert all CMS-managed buildings in Springfield to 100 percent wind power.

“It will ultimately decrease our reliance on petroleum, reduce our carbon emissions and improve our electrical efficiency while reducing consumption.”

Dallman 4 will burn coal to produce electricity, and as a result give off carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. The new power plant is set to go online sometime this month.

In 2006, to avert a drawn-out battle over construction Dallman 4, CWLP reached agreement with the Sierra Club to also buy some wind power and take a number of energy-saving steps.

Wind power was the most contentious part of the pact because of its unknown cost and the fact that the 200-megawatt Dallman 4 will produce more than enough power.

But the Sierra Club and Davlin administration agreed that the purchase of environmentally friendly wind power would partly offset Dallman 4’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The agreement, among other things, required the city to buy 120 megawatts of wind capacity — 60 for itself and 60 for state government.

CWLP has entered into two 10-year contracts with NextEra Energy Resources LLC, formerly FPL Energy, for the 120 megawatts of wind power. The energy is being produced at the Hancock County and Crystal Lake Wind Farms, both of which are in northern Iowa.

Utility officials estimate CWLP’s total wind power purchases over a full year will produce enough renewable energy to match about 18 percent of the electricity generated to meet Springfield residents’ energy demands.

Agreement details

The expected wind-energy agreement between state government and City Water, Light and Power would be retroactive to July 1 and would run through June 30, 2018.

The state is to pay the city about $1.2 million in the first year for its share of the wind power, according to Amber Sabin, CWLP spokeswoman. The amount will increase 4 percent every year. The unit cost is $1.93 per kilowatt-hour, Sabin said.

Under the agreement, the city willmake up to $1.86 million available to the state through conservation and efficiency programs to reduce energy consumption at various state buildings. The programs can include some already in place, including rebates for insulation, heat pumps and water heaters and technical assistance reviews for lighting, heating and air conditioning or weatherization.

By DEANA POOLE

The State Journal-Register

4 May 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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