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Council debates KPP generator RFP; members open to hosting but reluctant to buy in
Summary
Greensburg officials reviewed a KPP RFP offering member cities placement and partial ownership of backup diesel generators; council members cited high costs and low local outage history and indicated willingness to consider hosting units on city property without full ownership.
At the March 2 meeting, Administrator Stacy Barnes briefed the council on a Kansas Power Pool (KPP) Energy Request for Proposal that invites member cities to propose sites and ownership shares for packaged diesel generators purchased for resource adequacy and backup capacity. Barnes said KPP secured four Caterpillar C175-16 Tier 4 units, each rated at about 3 megawatts, with delivery expected in the second and third quarters of 2027.
Barnes presented estimated total installation costs per unit in the meeting packet at roughly $3,375,000–$3,400,000 (including unit, engineering, construction and interconnection). She outlined potential ownership shares and financing through KPP (10-year financing at 4.33%) and noted KPP's capacity payments (quoted at $7.50 per kW per year). Barnes explained that a 100% ownership share (2,750 kW shown in the materials) would produce capacity payments of approximately $20,000 per year at the $7.50/kW rate.
Council members discussed practical and financial trade-offs. Wayne Keeton said the grid is less predictable than before and expressed interest in local generation; others, including Trummel, Charlton and Vernon, said the purchase price was large relative to city needs and infrastructure priorities. Council noted Greensburg has not experienced frequent long outages and that many critical facilities already use private backup generators. Several members were open to allowing the units to be sited on city property near the substation without purchasing a share; Barnes was asked to model what a rate increase would look like if the city financed a buy-in and to consult the community prior to any firm commitment.
Barnes also noted that KPP would handle operations and intends to enter a service contract with Foley; any city ownership would carry fuel and pro rata service costs. There was no vote on an ownership commitment at the March 2 meeting.
Next steps: Barnes will prepare cost scenarios showing the impact on rates and return to Council with financial modeling; Council requested opportunity for public input before any purchase decision.
