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ERC backs staff recommendation to seek amendment to landfill gas purchase contract with Viridi Energy, forward to County Board
Summary
The committee authorized staff to pursue an amendment to the landfill gas (RNG) purchase agreement to mitigate financial impacts if commercial operation is delayed past Sept. 1, 2025, and forwarded the recommendation to the County Board.
The Marathon County Environmental Resources Committee on June 3, 2025 approved a motion to forward a staff recommendation to the County Board authorizing county staff to negotiate an amendment to the county's landfill gas purchase agreement with Viridi Energy to mitigate financial impacts if commercial operation is delayed.
Director Dave Heigenbroecher told the committee Viridi Energy has encountered multiple setbacks at the processing site, including permitting and easement challenges and complex on-site construction. He said the company notified county staff it may miss the contract's commercial-operation deadline (commercial operation date, or COD) of Sept. 1, 2025. "They notified us and said that there may be challenges reaching COD or commercially operational delivery to the RNG pipeline by September 1," Heigenbroecher said.
The county's contract with Viridi Energy includes language allowing Marathon County to terminate the agreement if commercial operation is not achieved by the COD. The contract also provides the county the option to negotiate a financial adjustment in lieu of termination. County staff, working with the county administrator and corporation counsel, recommended allowing staff to negotiate an amendment to extend the county's remedies window and to seek a financial arrangement that minimizes the county's lost royalty revenue if COD is delayed. The recommended amendment would allow negotiations through Dec. 31, 2025.
Supervisor Breuer made the motion to forward the recommendation to the County Board; Supervisor Crowell seconded. Committee members asked clarifying questions about how payments would be calculated during the extension period. Heigenbroecher said staff would use the county's records of what gas flows could have been delivered and would evaluate a fair royalty based on that information.
The committee voted in favor, and the motion carried. Committee staff said the recommendation will be placed before the Marathon County Board of Supervisors later in June for final action.
