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From YouTube: This Week in Ames
Description
Director of Ames Electric Services discusses the recent direction from Council to convert the power plant from coal to natural gas.
A
B
A
B
B
There
are
rules
that
look
at
one
is
called
the
mats
rule,
mercury
and
air
toxic
standards
rule
that
was
really
the
biggest
one
that
we
looked
at
and
there
was
two
ways
to
meet
that
one
was
to
add
additional
equipment
to
our
plant
as
it
sits
today.
The
other
is
to
convert
it
to
natural
gas
and,
after
a
lot
of
analysis,
our
recommendation
to
Council
was
to
convert
to
natural
gas
and
Council
on
November
twelfth
approve
that
so
we're
starting
that
process
now
so.
A
B
Actually
had
two
different
public
input
sessions,
so
when
we
held
here
at
City
Hall,
the
second
one
we
held
at
Iowa
State
got
a
lot
of
good
feedback,
some
of
the
things
that
I
took
from
that
meeting
or
those
meetings.
Everybody
was
real
pleased
that
we
were
moving
away
from
coal
and
to
natural
gas.
The
other
big
piece
that
I
heard
was,
let's
not
forget
about
renewable
energy,
and
it
was
interesting
that
a
lot
of
people
don't
understand
just
how
much
renewable
energy
we
already
have
in
our
generation
mix.
B
We
do
have
a
long
term
contract
on
wind
and
that's
producing
about
fifteen
sixteen
percent
of
the
energy
that
we
use
right
now.
The
other
piece
is
because
we
burn
refuse
derived
fuel.
That
is
in
essence,
also
a
renewable
energy,
and
that
provides
us
about
another
five
percent
of
our
energy
consumption,
so
that
was
one
of
the
things.
I
think
that
a
lot
of
people
were
pleased
to
hear
that
we
are
doing
today
and
they
encouraged
us
to
continue
to
look
at
that
and
start
looking
at,
possibly
solar
panels
or
more
wind
other
sustainable.
So.
A
Another
important
part
of
the
consultant
study
was
the
idea
of
not
going
away
from
the
resource
recovery
plant
in
that
idea
of
that
waste
to
energy.
We
were
first
in
the
nation,
so
keeping
the
resource
recovery
plan
is
very
important
to
the
citizens
of
Ames.
Tell
me
about
the
resource
recovery
plant
and
the
role
that
it
plays
in
producing
the
electricity
sure.
B
B
So
as
we're
burning
coal,
we
add,
refuse
dry
fuel
into
the
boilers
as
we
convert
the
the
units
from
coal
to
natural
gas.
One
of
the
big
questions
that
we
had
to
ask
was:
can
refuse
derived
fuel
continue
to
be
burned
with
the
new
fuel
source
and
in
talking
the
consultant
looked
at
that
in
talking
with
the
the
vendor
that
provided
us
our
boiler
originally,
and
they
said
that
it
could
continue
to
be
fired
with
natural
gas.
A
B
Really
two
components:
that's
one
of
them.
The
other
thing
is,
is
a
lot
of
people
say?
Well,
Ames
you
don't
recycle,
but
because
we're
bringing
all
of
the
garbage
to
the
resource
recovery
plant,
they
do
a
much
higher
level
of
recycling
than
processes
where
you'd
put
out
separate
bins
at
your
home.
So
a
lot
of
people
forget
about
that,
though,.
A
A
B
What
happens
on
the
on
that
now
is
now
that
we've
gotten
the
decision
to
go
to
natural
gas.
It's
not
a
simple
conversion.
We're
right
now,
looking
at
finding
an
engineering
firm
that
can
work
with
us
to
do
a
lot
of
the
detail
design.
How
do
we
get
the
gas
through
the
plant?
How
do
we
convert
the
boilers
themselves
from
how
we
burn
coal
to
natural
gas?
A
lot
of
that's
going
to
be
studied
over
the
next
six
to
12
months?
B
Then
we've
got
to
go
out
engineer
it
design
it
build
it
and
then
get
it
installed.
Our
timeline
right
now
is
to
meet
our
requirements
by
April
of
2016
seems
like
a
long
time,
but
there's
a
tremendous
amount
of
work
and
that's
inside
the
plant.
The
other
critical
piece
is
to
power
the
plant
with
natural
gas.
B
It
will
take
a
tremendous
amount
of
natural
gas,
more
gas,
then
the
entire
city
uses
to
heat
it
to
heat
during
the
winter
season,
so
we're
looking
at
two
different
ways
to
meet
that
one
would
be
to
build
a
natural
gas
line
from
a
major
gas
line.
That's
located
up
in
story
city,
the
other
alternative
is
to
work
with
the
local
gas
company
Alliant
Energy,
and
see
if
we
can't
partner
in
some
way
on
building
a
line
from
story
city
to
ames
and
then
into
the
power
plant.
B
A
B
That's
okay
and
yeah:
it's
it's
bigger
than
the
energy
fair!
It
is
the
Eco
fair.
So
we
we
talk,
not
only
electricity,
but
we
look
at
water
wastewater,
stormwater,
runoff
we
have
resource
recovery
is
involved
in
that
Public
Works
water.
The
library
usually
shows
up-
and
it's
a
great
time
for
citizens
of
Ames
and
and
people
from
around
the
area
to
come
in
here
about
new
things
that
are
happening
not
only
at
the
city,
but
what
landscape
architects
are
doing
these
days
to
control
water
runoff
and
things
like
that.
A
B
A
You
mentioned
lighting
one
other
thing:
I
want
to
ask
you
about
before
we
before
we
lose
you
for
today,
lighting
incandescent
lighting,
there's
incandescent
lighting
will
be
phased
out.
Certain
levels
of
incandescent
lighting
faced
out
beginning
january2014
really
opens
the
door
for
people
to
perhaps
upgrade
some
of
the
lighting
in
their
homes.
When.
B
Incandescent
lights
came
out,
you
had
those
60
waters,
those
hundred
waters
and
things
like
that.
The
first
breakthrough
then
became
the
the
compact
fluorescents,
where
you
could
really
save
some
energy
there
and
now
with
complex.
For
essence,
there
is
the
LED
light
emitting
diode
is
what
it
stands
for,
and
it's
amazing
just
how
much
energy
you
can
save
even
within
your
home,
if
you
change
out
three
or
four
light
bulbs
that
you
typically
have
on
during
the
you
know
during
the
day
or
extended
periods.
A
B
B
B
If
you
kind
of
walked
in
and
said,
I
wanted
to
rebate
a
hundred
light
bulbs,
we'd
kind
of
quite
in
just
how
many
light
bulbs
you're
using
in
your
house,
but
we
don't
have
any
specific
limit.
Our
goal
is,
is
to
get
those
older
incandescent
and
even
compact
fluorescents
can
be
changed
out
and
get
those
into
our
system.
Reducing
our
energy
consumption
and
saving
us
all
money
and
helping
the
environment.
Now.
A
B
A
A
Well,
if
you've
noticed
the
snow
outside,
this
is
just
a
good
time
to
remind
you
that,
at
the
end
of
the
snowfall,
there
is
10
daylight
hours
to
get
those
walks
cleaned.
We
want
to
keep
Ames
pedestrian
friendly.
Also,
if
you
live
on
a
snow
route
and
the
snow
orense
is,
in
effect,
make
sure
to
move
your
vehicle
to
avoid
ticketing
or
towing.
Well,
that's
our
show
for
today,
thanks
for
watching
and
tune
in
next
week
to
this
week
in
Ames,.