OTTAWA – Strength in numbers increases bargaining power and that principle is also true when cities with municipal utilities in Kansas band together to buy electricity. With the increased purchasing power, there are more opportunities to meet the municipal utilities’ needs, as well as improving dependability in electricity supply and keeping the cost down, said Bob Poehling, general manager of Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, who briefed Ottawa city commissioners Monday. In part because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, U.S. applications to build nuclear plants have dried up, and he said it’s probably likely that there won’t be any new plants built in the U.S. That could eventually apply to new coal-powered power plants, which could be adversely impacted by new clean-air rules, he said. That leaves natural gas and other alternative sources of energy as the best bet for electricity in the future, he said.
Monday, Sept. 16, 10:15 pm; updated Tuesday, Sept. 17, 4 p.m.
