City of Laurel, Cedar-Knox will work together to meet city’s electrical needs

LAUREL – The City of Laurel and Cedar-Knox Public Power District (CKPPD) have partnered to ensure the uninterrupted operation and maintenance of essential electrical facilities within the Laurel community.

Following the retirement of City Administrator Mark McCoy and the resignation of several city employees, Laurel Mayor Keith Knudsen reached out to Mike Lammers, General Manager of CKPPD, to see if CKPPD could provide a shortterm solution for the operating and maintenance of the City’s electrical distribution system.

Both entities have entered into a mutually beneficial six-month service agreement that automatically renews monthly until either party gives 30 days’ notice to exit the agreement.

The short-term agreement will allow CKPPD to uphold the delivery of distribution power to residents and businesses within the City of Laurel.

After several meetings to discuss immediate concerns, the Laurel City Council and CKPPD Board of Directors reached an agreement that allows CKPPD to operate and maintain the City’s facilities.

Services provided by CKPPD will be billed as contract labor. The City of Laurel will continue to handle all electrical billing processes.

Lammers said the number one concern for both parties is the safety of the general public and the staff of CKPPD.

“Our first priority is to patrol the entire electrical distribution system and to address any immediate hazards that are found to ensure safety and reliability at this time,” said Lammers.

The joint effort between CKPPD and the City of Laurel serves as a bridge to begin discussions regarding long-term solutions for the City’s needs, Knudsen said.

Both the City of Laurel and CKPPD will be actively exploring the possibility of a merger, but recognize there is much research, education, and ongoing communication to the community and the district that will need to take place.

“This research takes time and there are many questions to be asked by both the City and CKPPD,” said Knudsen.

“CKPPD and the City of Laurel have had a long-standing relationship,” explained Lammers. “Both entities have worked together cohesively for many years as CKPPD already serves the City with wholesale power.”

As the two entities embark on this collaborative journey, they both remain committed to transparency and open communication with all residents. Updates regarding the progress of the service agreement and discussions regarding a potential merger will be shared with the community and district as they unfold.

“While the CKPPD staff is very experienced working in other local area towns, they are not yet completely familiar with the system in Laurel. We’ve been in Laurel multiple times these past few weeks, gaining knowledge so we can best serve the community,” added Lammers.

CKPPD indicates that Laurel’s distribution system has 3 different primary voltages within, as well as a backup generation facility where the majority of the system currently feeds through, making Laurel’s system unique when compared to others.

“We currently do not intend to operate the City’s generation facility and are looking into other emergency backup options if needed in the immediate future,” said Lammers.

Lammers said while the generation system has been an asset for many years for backup power, he presently has concerns for safety, operational integrity, age of infrastructure, adequate equipment maintenance, and current condition of several units.

“While Laurel has grown accustomed to the generation system being used during power losses within the community, CKPPD has several other distribution circuits on the outer edges of town that present opportunity for reliability in the future,” said Lammers.

“During this transition, we are confident that CKPPD will address the City of Laurel’s immediate electrical system concerns and ongoing maintenance in a safe and efficient manner,” Knudsen said.