Mayor named to power authority

With the passage of a resolution Monday, Mayor Mike Levsen was named as the city's representative on the board of a recently-created power authority.

In July, the city commission voted to join about 15 other cities in the South Dakota Public Power Authority as a step in the direction of possibly getting into the utility business.

The agreement that created the power authority states that the board of directors must consist of representatives of the members.

City Attorney Mark Anderson said Monday state law requires those representatives to be elected officials of the member cities.

"Each member must send an elected official to be a part of that board," Anderson said.

The joint power organization agreement, which went to member cities last month, will allow the cities involved to cooperatively study the feasibility of entering the utility business. No timeline has been set for that study.

Anderson said in July the agreement had been worked out in a number of meetings across the state with other cities that have expressed interest in municipalizing utilities. Those cities include Yankton, Mitchell, Brookings and Groton. Aberdeen is the largest city involved in the agreement.

The agreement also gives the interested cities the necessary corporate face to make a bid to buy generation and transmission capabilities, should the feasibility study show that purchase to be a profitable one.

The idea of the feasibility study came to the forefront after NorthWestern Energy filed for bankruptcy in September 2003.

NorthWestern supplies energy to about 600,000 customers in South Dakota, Montana and central Nebraska. Aberdeen and a number of eastern South Dakota communities are served by the Sioux Falls-based utility.

NorthWestern has expressed opposition to the municipalization of utilities in the past, saying the cities will find entering the power generation business will be cost-prohibitive for them.

(605) 622-2310 or 1-800-925-4100 ext. 310; mcorpos@aberdeennews.com