With a power purchase agreement in place, the city of Whitefish can now pursue in earnest its plan to refurbish a defunct hydroelectric plant and begin producing its own electricity for the power grid, with the potential to eventually save at least $50,000 a year in energy costs.
John Wilson, Whitefish’s public works director, said it’s rare for a municipality in Montana to have its own small-scale hydroelectric plant. The only other town he knows of is Philipsburg, which has two plants that were installed by the same group of engineers around the same time as Whitefish’s back in the early 1980s.
“I’m not aware of any others – there may be another city or town in the state, but it’s not common,” Wilson said. “It will be interesting to see over time if more do it.”
At a July 20 meeting, the Whitefish City Council approved a 20-year agreement with Flathead Electric Cooperative split into two phases. In the first phase, the cooperative pays the city $400,000 in advance for 6.65 million kilowatt-hours of energy delivered to the power grid over an eight-year period. If the city fails to meet those conditions it will provide cash reimbursement to FEC.
After eight years under the terms of the agreement, FEC will continue accepting energy in exchange for electricity delivered to selected accounts within the city’s governmental departments. The value of this exchange to the city is estimated at about $50,000 per year, but as electric rates increase Wilson said the city stands to save more money.
“It’s reasonable to expect that rates will be higher in eight years than now, so we expect (the agreement) will be even more attractive then,” Wilson said.
The city accounts that will likely receive money from the exchange include the water and wastewater treatment plants, and perhaps Stumptown Ice Den and street lighting. Based on a consultant’s research, the plant can generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 150 to 250 homes, which Wilson said would translate to no more than three or four selected city accounts.
After construction in the early 1980s, Whitefish’s facility had fallen into disrepair by the early 1990s, due to a combination of business reasons and a lightning storm, according to research by Jeff Arcel of Mother’s Power Inc. Arcel produced a report for the city to help plan for reopening the facility, which is located near the water treatment plant. Philipsburg’s hydroelectric facilities are still in operation.
Richard Hoehne, director of public works in Philipsburg, said his town is its own power provider and uses the two plants to generate energy for seven city accounts and its school districts. If the city needs more energy it purchases it from NorthWestern Energy, and conversely it sells any excess to NorthWestern.
“For us, it’s worked out pretty well,” he said.
To restore the Whitefish plant to operating condition, the city will replace the turbine and generator, along with installing new controls and electric components. Work will also be completed on the building itself and new screens will be placed in the watershed to keep debris out.
The city will use the $400,000 from FEC plus $200,000 from an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to pay for the renovations. The city has contracted with Dick Anderson Construction out of Bozeman and CTA Architects Engineers’ Missoula office.
Wilson imagines outside work on the building to begin this summer. The turbine and generator won’t arrive until winter or spring, “then hopefully we’ll be able to have it running in time for spring runoff.”
“It’s a very interesting project,” Wilson said. “When the opportunity’s there we’re happy to do it. It’s sort of like our recycling program – it reflects the values of our community.”