Heather Bell
RADFORD – When the City of Radford negotiated its current wholesale power contract, it was with the understanding the on-campus power plant being built by Radford University would be on-line and producing power by June 1.
That plant is not yet operational, putting the city at risk of having to purchase wholesale power for use by Radford University at a wholesale price higher than what the university’s purchase rate was with the city.
As a result, Radford City Council passed an ordinance July 22 that would allow for a tariff for customers in Radford University’s customer class.
“The power supply contract [with CMS Energy] did not include what was Radford University’s load; the thought was that they would be on their co-gen [plant] and we would not have to supply that power,” said Tim Logwood, Director of Electric Utilities for the City of Radford. “The majority of our power through the CMS contract is at a fixed rate, but there is a portion of Radford’s load that excludes RU, and RU’s load is bought on the ‘day ahead’ market, which is subject to, for example, weather events, which can make prices go up. That risk is eliminated with this tariff.
“The university made it clear they would be limiting power purchases from the city, so when we made a change to our wholesale power contract, we had to make a decision about what we would commit to purchasing,” said Mayor David Horton.
Logwood said the university hopes to have the co-gen plant up and running by the
end of the year, but he would not be surprised if it is not completed until next spring, due to supply chain issues. He said the university is the only power customer in the customer class affected by the tariff.
