BEATRICE – The Beatrice Board of Public Works is recommending city council approval of a study of a potential for a new electric power generating facility in the city.


The board recommends approval of a consulting agreement with 1898 and Company, at a cost of about $112,000.  B-P-W General Manager Tobias Tempelmeyer said the city has energy and energy capacity contracted through 2030.  "What we're seeing though is the prices for capacity increasing in the market, and so what we want to do is go out and do a study to see if its feasible to install our own electric generation here in town, and avoid paying for capacity in the future."


The company recommended for hiring is a subsidiary of Burns and McDonnell…a company the city has worked with on landfill development.
Tempelmeyer says its not unusual for cities to have their own generating facilities. The consulting study would look at potential sites and types of generating facilities.


"The reason capacity is increasing, is the Southwest Power Pool which we are a member of....they are increasing their spending reserve requirements, so how much extra capacity has to be operational at any time. Today, it is at 10 or 12 percent....they're going to 15. That's just extra everybody has to have available at any one moment."

Cost of such a project would depend on the type of facility and level of power generated…but officials say it would be a multi-million-dollar item.


In other action Wednesday, the public works board voted to recommend a contract payment to R.L Tiemann Construction totaling over $277,000, for the South 13th Street concrete project between Oak and Beaver.


One glitch in that project…..city officials said that a motorist recently drove onto fresh concrete over part of the stretch, getting stuck. Reimbursement for that damage is up to insurance companies for the motorist and contractor.