The City of Austin, Minn., through public power utility Austin Utilities, has extended its power sales agreement with the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, SMPPA said on Aug. 28.
“We are excited to have Austin extend its membership in SMMPA to 2050.” said SMMPA Chief Executive Officer Dave Geschwind. “SMMPA looks forward to continuing our close work with Austin, and all the Agency’s members, to provide a power supply that is reliable, affordable, and sustainable.”
When SMMPA and its members signed the original long-term power sales agreements in the 1980s, those agreements were originally set to expire in 2030.
In 2009, the Agency faced the need to commit to generation and transmission projects with financing that would extend beyond the end of the original agreements, it noted.
To position the Agency to make those commitments, SMMPA offered its members the opportunity to extend their power sales agreements to 2050. At that time, Austin opted to not extend the term of their agreement.
In the ensuing years, Austin Utilities evaluated their power supply options and initiated a comprehensive study on the matter in 2023.
Following the conclusion of that study, both the Austin Utilities Commission and the Austin City Council voted unanimously to approve the power sales agreement extension to 2050. At its July 10 meeting, the SMMPA board also unanimously approved the extension of the agreement.
“Austin Utilities conducted a thorough and lengthy review of its options and ultimately decided that extending the power sales agreement with SMMPA for our future power supply was the best long-term option for the Austin community,” said Mark Nibaur, General Manager of Austin Utilities.
SMMPA provides electricity and related services to 17 municipally operated utilities, mostly in south-central and southeastern Minnesota.
