At the February meeting of the Grand Marais Public Utility Commission (PUC) Electrical Superintendent Mike Taylor said he recently attended a meeting with Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA). SMMPA, said Taylor, has a plan in place to help municipalities like Grand Marais build a 2-megawatt photovoltaic [solar power] project.
“Would SMMPA buy the power?” asked Wilkes.
“Yes,” said Taylor.
However, City Administrator Mike Roth said, “There would be a gap in financing. Either we would have to make up for that gap and eat it or we could ask customers if they would agree to pay a little more.”
Taylor said four communities are already actively pursuing this new initiative.
Wilkes asked Roth to look into the solar power program further, and Roth said he would have time in May to delve deeper into the matter.
Wilkes gave a brief biomass update. He said Cook County Local Energy Project’s (CCLEP) consultant Mark Spurr was still crunching numbers, trying to establish what potential customers heat demands would be and the cost to them to purchase steam heat from a proposed biomass heating plant.
“Right now the hospital still doesn’t know what their estimated heat demand will be. Our consultant and their consultant have each come up with different numbers so they are going to get together to figure things out,” said Wilkes.
The PUC approved spending $8,200 to hire a consultant who will inspect all of the junction boxes and transformers to make sure they are safe. Also inspected will be the sewer and water departments. Taylor said the consultant might provide more safety procedures and his/ her recommendations might include asking that the departments receive more safety training. Roth said this was new and he didn’t think it was going to be an ongoing expense to the PUC.
Notice to utility customers
PUC secretary Jan Smith said that starting June 26, the PUC will no longer honor a postmark when determining if a bill is “on time.” Payments must be received in the PUC post office box or the city hall office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the due date stated on the bill to avoid a penalty. The drop box located at city hall will be emptied at 4:30 p.m. and any bills dropped off after closing will be considered late.
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