Energy purchases will take center stage Tuesday when Iola City Council members meet for their regular meeting.
The Council has in front of it an option to buy and install a pair of used diesel-powered generators capable of producing a combined 4 megawatts of energy per hour at a cost of about $1.1 million.
Council members also will further discuss whether to enter an agreement with Westar to have the utility giant develop a solar project in Iola, then sell the solar panels to the city in about eight years for $3.7 million. Scott Shreve, Iolas energy consultant, will be on hand to discuss a related feasibility study.
Thirdly, the Council will decide whether it will once again purchased hydropowered electricity, an option the city eschewed back in 2017 because of the costs involved. Recent changes in transmission costs may make the option more palatable, City Administrator Sid Fleming wrote in a preview of Tuesdays meeting.
Tuesdays 6 p.m. meeting was pushed back 24 hours from Monday because of Memorial Day, and will be in the Allen Community College Board Room instead of the New Community Building at Riverside Park because of recent flooding in the park.
The public is invited.
