“We’re ready for Fisherman’s Picnic,” Grand Marais Water/Wastewater Superintendent Tom Nelson told the Public Utilities Commission on August 3, 2011, the day before the beginningT e of the biggest town event of the year.M “nesThe water’s running good. The sewer’s good.” His department had as much done and ready as possible, he reported.
Electric Superintendent Mike Taylor reported on Grand Marais’ participation in keeping the regional electric isplagrid up and running during the hot summerNetwo months when large metropolitanY areasr draw tremendous amounts of energy.h
Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA), which is madeD uppl ofy 18 member communities includingprogrGrand Marais, pays Grand Marais $18,000 a month just to sit ready to h dgenerate power to offset the drain in other areas ofw thes region. If Grand Marais is called upon to generate more than 1,000 hours of power in a month, SMMPA would pay even more, but it has never required Grand
Marais to generate that much power in a given month.
Requests for more power come to
SMMPA from the Midwest Independent
Transmission System Operator (MISO), of which SMMPA is a member. According to SMMPA, MISO is “a nonprofit, member based organization whose core responsibility is to maintain reliability of theAd wholesale bulk electric system in the
Midwest….” SMMPA has the right to sell onewspaperthe open market the power its member edcommunitiesto participate generate for the benefit of nthosethe communities.2×2
Whenetwo electric use gets to a certain bpoinrunningand prices start to rise, SMMPA will incallt upone mainits member communities to start iongeneratingof yourpower. At 2:30 p.m. on August 1, the cost of power in the Minnesota hub was $30.74 per megawatt hour, whereas in the Illinois hub it was $103.42. When SMMPA’s members are asked to generate power, it decreases the need for SMMPA to buy power from the pricier locations.
SMMPA wants Grand Marais to be able to power up with only 10 minutes of notice, and it is able to turn the generators on remotely. If that is done, Mike Taylor is notified and he immediately goes to the power plant to make sure everything is running smoothlySmal
Grand MaraisU q generated power on differentRedaysp in iv five
July, ranginghe from one hour during its monthly exercise to six hours on two other days. In total, it generated 117,622 kilowatt hours of electricity in 19 hours and used 7,839 gallons of diese fuel to do it SMMPA pays for the fuel.
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