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Westminster council backs notifying PMPA to market excess Catawba nuclear capacity
Summary
Council authorized city staff to tell the Project Municipal Power Agency (PMPA) Westminster is willing to market roughly 1,674 kilowatts of its Catawba nuclear allocation while retaining about 3,400 kilowatts for future growth; officials said selling excess capacity could reduce wholesale power costs over the next decade.
Westminster City Council on Feb. 11 voted to notify the Project Municipal Power Agency (PMPA) that the city is willing to make a calculated portion of its Catawba nuclear allocation available for sale.
Council's action directs the city’s PMPA board director (the city administrator) to proceed with notifying PMPA of Westminster’s willingness to include roughly 1,674 kilowatts (about 1.674 megawatts) of excess capacity in a PMPA marketing pool and to retain approximately 3,400 kilowatts for local use. The council vote took place after a 90-minute presentation and Q&A by PMPA staff and city officials.
City Administrator Kevin Brunson and Joel Ledbetter, general manager with PMPA, told the council the allocation Westminster holds at the Catawba Nuclear Station is 5,088 kilowatts (about 5 megawatts) and that on average the city uses roughly 2,000–2,500 kilowatts month to month. The recommended sale package would bundle excess capacity from multiple PMPA member cities (target roughly a 50-megawatt block) to market to external buyers; Westminster’s share of that bundle was presented as roughly 1,674 kilowatts.
Officials said the sale is intended to reduce Westminster’s wholesale power costs after the city’s supplemental power sales agreement expires in 2028 and to smooth the rate impacts tied to PMPA’s long-term debt and to a litigation settlement the agency repaid with bonded debt. Brunson and PMPA staff presented modeled rate scenarios showing that, under the proposed sale and contract structure, Westminster could avoid an estimated cumulative increase in wholesale power costs that they quantified as roughly $3.7 million over a 10-year modeling window compared with a no-sale scenario.
Councilmembers asked whether selling excess would limit Westminster’s ability to serve future local growth; PMPA staff said the analysis uses a conservative 60% load-duration metric and proposes retaining 3,400 kilowatts so the city could grow into that retained share. Officials said the modeling is a forecast, updated annually, and that exact numbers and contract terms could change as negotiations progress. Brunson emphasized the Feb. 28 board deadline PMPA set for member action and described the 2026 target start date as “ambitious” but the working goal.
The council vote was framed as authorization to notify PMPA of Westminster’s willingness to sell the calculated excess; Brunson noted that further agreements (power purchase agreements, ordinances, and other documentation) would return to council if the market and PMPA negotiations proceed. The vote recorded by the clerk showed unanimous support among members present (Aldrin: yes; Davey: yes; Graham: yes; Jenny: yes; Dale: yes; Adam: yes).
