Due to a heat-related surge in electrical use throughout the region this summer, the Grand Marais Public Utilities Department sold electricity generated at the Grand Marais power plant (pictured here) to its electric cooperative, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency.
The Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is a good indicator of the weather. At the August 1 PUC meeting, Electric Superintendent Mike Taylor reported that due to heat throughout the region and the surge in electrical use that goes with it, Grand Marais’ electric cooperative, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA), bought electricity from Grand Marais in July. The PUC’s three engines each ran 45 hours and went through $50,000 of diesel fuel to provide the power SMMPA requested.
The warm temperatures have even reached Grand Marais. Utility Administrative Specialist Jan Smith said that July was the first month the PUC has ever taken in over $400,000. She attributed the extra utility costs to increased use of things like fans and dehumidifiers.
Biomass proposal coming
Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP) founder George Wilkes told the PUC commissioners that CCLEP would be bringing “a fabulous proposal” to them on August 15. He said he believes the materials he will distribute at that time will demonstrate that a biomass district heating plant for Grand Marais is worth pursuing.
A two-phase feasibility study will be wrapping up by the end of this year. Wilkes said results are indicating that Cook County has much more biomass available than would be needed for a district heating plant in Grand Marais and that configurations that would include public buildings and possibly downtown businesses would be cost-effective.
The next step, said Wilkes, would be to do a market assessment and create a business plan, which would take about 1½ months and cost about $100,000, and then to come up with a final plan for the details, including an engineering plan. This would cost another $200,000. He said the Biomass Committee would be applying for funding from the county’s 1 percent recreation and infrastructure tax revenue, which is administered by the county board. A biomass facility was one of the projects named in the legislation that authorized the tax.
Wilkes recommended the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, the Swedish Bioenergy Association, and FVB Energy Inc.—a partnership of biomass interests— to take on the next steps in pursuing a biomass facility. “They seem like a group that can really take this to the next level,” he said.
They have been focusing on projects they believe would have a high likelihood of succeeding, said PUC commissioner Tim Kennedy, who is also on the Biomass Committee. Who would own the facility is yet to be determined. Kennedy said they have been assuming the city would be a likely candidate to take the lead, but private ownership or partnership with a business is also a possibility.
A new working group would be formed to take on the next phase, Wilkes said, and they have people willing to be part of it. The application for 1 percent funding could come from CCLEP or the PUC.
Mercury count low
Last quarter’s mercury discharge from the city’s sewer system was 0.74 parts per trillion, a very good number, according to Water/ Wastewater Superintendent Tom Nelson. It is less than the standard the state will start imposing in three years at the start of a new five-year monitoring cycle. Nelson said the city is unlikely to need to invest in any extra equipment or processes to adhere to it.
The upcoming standard, 1.3 parts per trillion, is “super minuscule,” Nelson said. Earlier this year, Nelson brought a square piece of paper about four inches by four inches to a PUC meeting and said that 1.3 parts per trillion is like something that size compared to the entire square mileage of Cook County.
The mercury test is so sensitive that the one performing it must keep his or her mouth closed to avoid contamination of the test results by the presence of mercury in his or her fillings.
Grand Marais also has a phosphorus limit, and nitrogen limits will be imposed starting the next cycle.
Leave a Reply