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Baldwin City Council asks staff for numbers before deciding on long-term power deal
Summary
Council members questioned whether to lock into long-term GRDA capacity after staff explained the GRDA product is a fixed 25-year contract and recommended staff return with data on average and peak load, solar and storage options, and resale potential.
Baldwin City Council members pressed staff for more analysis before committing to a long-term power contract, focusing on whether the city should retain capacity in a 25-year GRDA (Grand River Dam Authority) agreement or reduce capacity and supplement with renewables.
Councilmember (Unidentified Speaker 4) raised the central concern: "there's no growth language at all in these things," noting the GRDA product is a fixed megawatt-hour amount and asking how the city would serve future load growth. Staff (Unidentified Speaker 2) replied that the GRDA product is a 25-year fixed contract at whatever megawatt level the council selects and that additional load from growth would have to be met from other sources, such as wind, solar or gas-fired generation.
Staff briefed the council on market trade-offs. Unidentified Speaker 2 said wind and solar are typically contracted for 20 to 30 years and federal hydro for as long as 50 years, while natural gas markets remain volatile and are the hardest to lock into long-term fixed prices. The council discussed that solar alone does not supply base load and would require significant battery storage to cover night and peak demand.
Unidentified Speaker 4 asked staff to quantify the scale of alternatives, including how much additional solar and storage would be needed if GRDA capacity were reduced. Staff estimated the city's average daily load at roughly 95 megawatt-hours and said peak demand was "like 180" megawatt-hours; staff agreed to prepare a clearer set of numbers and scenarios for the council's next meeting. "So just so we have all the information before we make this decision on a long term agreement," an unidentified official said, urging a complete briefing before a vote.
Next steps: council directed staff to return with detailed modeling—average and peak load numbers, comparisons of base-load contracts versus solar-plus-storage options, and anticipated timelines for commercial offers—so members can evaluate price, resale potential for any retained capacity, and implementation risks. The council has two scheduled meetings remaining on this matter before a decision is required.
Sources: Council discussion and staff remarks during the public meeting.
