photo by: Journal-World Photo Illustration

Lawrence Journal-World Editorial

It’s not the end of the world that Lawrence didn’t seize the chance to purchase wind energy credits at a discounted rate for the next 20 years. But it is a missed opportunity

Last July, Westar offered some of its large-demand customers, including Lawrence, the chance to purchase wind energy at a fixed rate of 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 20 years. Westar had 200 megawatts of wind power available from the Soldier Creek Wind Farm that will be operational by the end of 2020.

The reservations of wind energy were available on a first-come, first-served basis, and all the energy has been snapped up. Douglas County, Manhattan, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University all signed wind-energy agreements with Westar.

Who didn’t? The city of Lawrence.

It’s not that the Lawrence City Commission rejected the proposal; rather, commissioners simply weren’t made aware of the Westar offer until it was too late.

That’s on city staff.

Municipal Services and Operations Director Dave Wagner told commissioners that the city has been working with Black & Veatch to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed Westar contract.

“We just didn’t have the understanding, at least in my mindset, to pull that trigger at that point in time,” Wagner said. “To understand really what the impacts would be long term (and) short term, whether it was a benefit or whether there could be some negatives to that long-term commitment. So I think we’re learning from that.”

On the surface, the deal certainly appears to be a benefit. The fuel rate Westar offered on wind energy was 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour. The city reported that the average cost of the city’s fuel charge for the last five years was 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour.

Wagner said one reason the city hesitated on the deal was that he feared a better renewable energy source would become available within the span of the 20-year agreement but that the city would then be committed to wind energy.

Maybe so. Still Commissioners Jennifer Ananda, Matthew Herbert and Mayor Lisa Larsen expressed frustration that they hadn’t known about the wind energy agreement sooner, when they could have signed on.

It’s important to note that the wind energy would only have been a fraction of the city’s overall power resources. But in addition to the potential cost savings, the Westar agreement also offered the city the opportunity to promote and support renewable energy, which aligns with Lawrence’s culture of environmental stewardship.

“That’s why this community is the blue bubble in the red sea,” said Lawrence resident Michael Almon, who spoke to commissioners about the missed opportunity to invest in wind energy. “We live by our values; we also live by fiscal responsibility, but the values are equally if not more (important).”

Give City Manager Tom Markus credit for noting that, in hindsight, the city should have brought the wind energy opportunity to commissioners’ attention sooner. Next time, let’s hope it does.