The city of Oberlin, Kansas, in October took delivery of two new CAT C175 3.0-megawatt engines, which marks the first delivery of equipment under the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency’s Behind-the-Meter Generation Program.
The engines will replace the city’s current, outdated generation, KMEA noted in a story included in the most recent issue of its Utility Connection newsletter.
In addition to providing Oberlin with easy-to-run, reliable generation that will serve the community in time of need for many years to come, they also help the city meet its Southwest Power Pool capacity requirement, KMEA, a joint action agency, said.
The KMEA program aims to give cities an option when a large, capital-intensive project, like the purchase of new generation, is needed for the utility.
KMEA assumes the project-related debt on behalf of the city. The city reimburses KMEA through a capacity contract payment that is simply included on KMEA’s normal monthly power supply bill, KMEA noted.
The new engines are expected to be fully operational by the spring of 2024.
