In May 2008, the current contract between Westar Energy and the City of Horton Power & Light Distribution Company will cease.  This contract has been fruitful for both parties, with rates as low as $.034 per killowatt hour (kWh).  While the Westar contract price is $.025 per kWh, there is another approximate $.009 or 9/10ths of cent per kWh paid to the Southwest Power Pool Association (SPP) for the delivery or transmission of the electricty from Westar facilities. 

Upon receiving the three-year notice of intent to cancel the contract with the City of Horton from Westar in May 2005, the City of Horton has been diligently pursuing a similar long-term contract that will provide as consistent marketability of energy as the Westar contract has provided over the last 10 years. 

In early 2006, the City of Horton, Kansas Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA), Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) of Oklahoma, and the Southwest Power Pool Authority (SPP), the entity having ownership of all transmission lines in the southwest region, reached a tentative agreement for the delivery of 1 MW of GRDA power to the City of Horton from the years of May 2010 to 2026 at a wholesale cost, including energy and delivery, of $.045 per kWh.  For the City of Horton to experience only a $.10 increase in electricity is a victory, but even more so a victory was the "Magic in Horton," wherein the SPP required a "zero construction impact and zero letter of credit," an unprecedented move by the SPP.  Therefore, the City of Horton was not required to place any security on the upgrades that will be required for the transmission of the 1 MW of electricity to the City of Horton during the years of 2010 to 2026.

In fiscal year 2007 (Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2007), the City of Horton will purchase the electronic, real-time metering software and hardware that is required under the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) that recently was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the interstate energy body responsible for approving interstate agreements of electricity.  This investment, roughly $40,000.00, will allow the City of Horton to purchase electricity during the 2008 to 2010 interim without a contract.  There are several cities who have purchased more than their need under the GRDA contract in order to take benefit of the GRDA prices after their Westar contracts expire, which in some cases do not expire until 2012. 

The City of Horton, in fiscal year 2007, will additionally be commissioning an engineering study for the feasibility of burning either natural gas or livestock methane as an alternative fuel in its current generators, which will dramatically reduce the cost of generation.  Diesel costs approximately $16.24 per MMBtu to natural gas costs of $6.40 per MMBtu (August 2006 Cost Analysis).  The City is hopeful to be able to convert its current generators to co-generators, capable of burning a combination of either livestock methane or natural gas with diesel (99:1 mix) or burn entirely diesel, depending on the market price of any of the three fuels. 

For further information or questions regarding the future supply of electricity to the City of Horton, please do not hesitate to contact Jim Whisenant, Horton City Administrator, at (785) 486-2681 or by e-mail at hortonca@hortonkansas.net.