A Little History
January 29, 1889
The Alexandria City Council adopted an ordinance granting the right to establish an electric plant and to provide power for operation of the water works. In the early days, electricity was generated by burning coal that was shoveled by hand into large boilers. The steam created by the boiling water turned the turbine, which turned the generator rotor that produced electricity.
1950s
ALP began purchasing some of its electricity from the federal government (now known as Western Area Power Administration). The government was generating hydropower from the dams being built on the Missouri River. They were looking for utilities such as Alexandria’s to buy the power. As the price of fossil fuel, including coal, started to rise, the benefits of hydropower became apparent. It was clean power. It did not require the burning of a fossil fuel such as coal or fuel oil, so it did not pollute the air. It was economical power. Falling water, which replenished itself naturally each year through melting snow and rain, generated the electricity. The costs were not reliant on labor and equipment for mining, as they were with coal and fuel oil.
1970s
1970’s the utility board began buying all of the power for Alexandria from the hydro facilities owned by the federal government. They stopped generating electricity in the Alexandria power plant. This was a very rewarding decision because after the oil embargo in 1973, the price of fossil fuel skyrocketed. Fortunately, the Alexandria Board of Public Works had signed a long-term contract for buying hydropower. Because of that decision, the customers of ALP have saved millions of dollars on the purchase of electricity. ALP now purchases about 35% of its electricity from the federal hydro system. After the federal government contracted for the sale of all the hydropower it could generate each year, it became apparent that, as the City of Alexandria continued to grow, we would need a new source of power to provide its additional electric needs.
Also in the 1970s, Alexandria joined a group of about 50 towns (now known as Missouri River Energy Services) to participate in building a large coal- fired electricity-generating plant in Wheatland, Wyoming called Laramie River Station. It is one of the cleanest generating plants in the United States because of the millions of dollars worth of pollution control equipment installed in the plant. The plant is near the low sulfur coal fields, and the electricity it generates is delivered to Alexandria over high-voltage transmission lines. Purchasing that electricity and having it delivered is less expensive than generating it at the Alexandria power plant. We use about 60% from the coal fired plant in Wyoming.
After ALP started buying all of its power, the generators in the ALP Power Plant became a back-up system to the purchased power. Today, they are still maintained and are run monthly. They can carry about 15 percent of our electrical load if necessary. Also, these units are under contract to Missouri River Energy Services for their generation reserves. The generators are powered by fuel oil or natural gas, which makes the electricity they produce quite expensive.
1993
The coal burning part of the Power Plant was demolished.
1996
ALP entered a partnership between with Runestone Electric Association to provide dial-up Internet service to the Alexandria area.
1997
A major electrical distribution upgrade began. The Pole yard Substation was constructed. The Southwest Substation was rebuilt from 41.6 kV to 115 kV operation.
A new water treatment plant was built. It is capable of treating 3.38 million gallons of water per day. The two older filter plants were retired.
1998
Installed a fiber optic network in Alexandria to advance the Internet service. Fiber optic connections are now available for customers that need to exchange data or travel the Internet at very high speeds.
2001
Nokomis Substation was rebuilt to 115 kV operation.
2003
Industrial Water Tower was built. |
