MORAN — Moran would have spent roughly 38 percent less in wholesale electricity costs had it been a part of a consortium of municipalities that act as a single buyer. So says Sam Mills and Gerry Bieker, representatives of the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, who spoke at length Monday with Moran City Council members about the consortium’s services.
“We didn’t show up here by chance,” Mills said, noting Moran’s wholesale energy contract with Westar expires in May 2019.
And if the city is looking to change, it needs to begin soon, he said.
KMEA’s roots date back to 1980 after several communities in northwest Kansas joined forces to buy electricity as one unit.
The practice eventually spread to the point KMEA reaches border to border, with 80 member cities, including Iola, purchasing electricity through the agency.
In 2016, Moran spent $411,551 for wholesale energy costs, which equates to 8.38 cents per kilowatt hour, Mills said.
Had Moran been a part of KMEA, that same amount of power would have cost 5.28 cents per kilowatt hour, or about $254,000, a savings of $157,000, Mills concluded.
Part of KMEA’s success, Mills said, is that the agency purchases electricity through a number of suppliers.
“We try to get the best mix in the market, so if natural gas or coal goes high, it doesn’t change your electric bill,” he said. “We try to fix your power supply plan in pieces and parts, so you’re diversified.”
And because KMEA is a non-profit organization, any savings go directly back to the consumers.
Council members were receptive, but agreed with the KMEA reps that no decision should be made in haste.
Bieker, in fact, noted just their presence in Moran may give the community leverage if it negotiates another wholesale energy contract with Westar.
Of note, the KMEA contract would affect only the price of energy, not transmission costs, which are tacked on. The power would still come through Westar lines, Mills noted.
“Tonight is just an introduction,” Mills said. “May of 2019 sounds like a long time off, but we’re talking a couple of blinks of an eye, and there are a lot of things that have to go on in the background.”
Council members promised to take up the matter promptly.
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