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From YouTube: This Week in Ames
Description
Electric Services Director Donald Kom tells up about the transition from coal to natural gas.
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A
B
B
B
B
B
Right
now,
when
looking
at
the
two
options,
we
could
have
met
all
of
the
requirements
and
stayed
on
coal
that
would
have
required
a
lot
of
new
equipment
added
to
the
plant
or,
alternatively,
we
could
convert
from
coal
to
natural
gas
and
still
meet
a
lot
of
the
rules.
The
new
rules
that
are
coming
out
predominantly
dealing
with
with
carbon
dioxide
is
one
of
the
reasons
why
it
made
sense
more
sense
to
switch
to
natural
gas.
B
Right
now,
our
goal
is
to
be
off
of
coal
on
natural
gas
by
april
of
2016..
There
are
two
basic
things
that
we
have
to
do.
One
is
convert
the
plant
itself,
which
is
changing
out
the
burners
in
the
boiler
running
the
piping.
Looking
at
the
control
systems
inside
the
power
plant.
The
second
piece
is:
we
have
to
get
enough
natural
gas
delivered
to
the
city
to
the
power
plant.
To
make
that
happen.
A
B
Well
with
us,
the
the
real
focus
is
on
the
burners
or
on
the
boiler
itself.
Okay,
we're
going
to
continue
to
basically
create
a
fireball
inside
the
burn
in
the
boiler
that
creates
steam
the
steam.
Then
travels
goes
through
the
turbine
and
that
produces
the
electricity.
So
we
don't
have
to
touch
the
turbine,
we're
really
not
touching
the
water
process
within
the
boiler.
It's
just
instead
of
creating
fire
with
coal,
we're
going
to
be
creating
fire
with
natural
gas.
So
that's
the
component,
that's
changing.
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B
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B
Well,
one
of
the
things
that
we
studied
early
on
in
looking
at
this
was
to
obviously
run
a
power
plant.
You
use
a
large
amount
of
fuel,
whether
it's
coal
or
natural
gas
we
looked
at.
Basically,
how
would
we
get
enough
gas
to
the
power
plant
and
there's
not
enough
delivery
capability
that
exists
within
the
city?
The
two
options
that
we
studied
were
one
is
to
to
build
our
own
gas
line
to
the
power
plant
out
to
a
major
pipeline
that
that
exists
near
story
city.
B
A
B
Electricity
will
look
exactly
the
same.
Your
lights
will
be
as
bright
as
they
ever
were.
One
of
the
things
that
that
you'll
see
we.
We
continue
to
run
the
power
plant
both
for
reliability,
but
then
also
to
consume
the
refuse
derived
fuel
created
by
the
county.
So
we're
going
to
continue
to
have
one
at
least
one
unit
online
at
any
given
time.
That's
both
for
reliability
and
to
consume
the
the
rdf
and.
A
B
That
will
continue
it's
slightly
different
to
today
we
replace
some
of
the
coal
we
burn
with
rdf
in
the
future
natural
gas,
we're
not
really
replacing
natural
gas
with
the
rdf,
but
we're
using
the
natural
gas
to
burn
the
rdf.
So
there's
a
slight
nuance
there,
but
again
most
people
won't
notice
any
change
whatsoever.
A
As
we
get
into
the
colder
months,
a
lot
of
people
are
looking
at
their
utility
bills
as
they
go
up
a
little
bit.
They've,
probably
already
noticed
a
bump
with
the
colder
weather
we've
had
recently
aimed
electric
services
has
been
very
proactive
in
trying
to
help
people
conserve
energy.
What
are
some
tips
you
can
give
to
people.
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A
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B
Several
years
ago,
we
signed
a
long-term
contract
to
take
off
the
to
take
the
output
of
a
wind
farm
over
by
colo.
We
we
get
about
36
megawatts
of
our
wind,
which
is
about
16.
17
percent
of
our
energy
use
comes
off
that
wind
farm.
Some
of
that
energy,
then
is
also
used
by
iowa
state
about
a
sixth
of
it
is,
is
for
iowa
state,
so
at
the
at
a
utility
grid
or
utility
scale
size,
we
do
have
a
a
fairly
large
portfolio
of
wind
from
a
local
standpoint.
B
A
B
Would
offer
that
to
anyone
that
would
install
and
would
install
solar?
We
have
unique
contracts
in
place
to
where,
if
you've,
if
you
what
we
say,
push
back
out
onto
the
system,
it's
it's
called
a
net
metering
program
or
net
metering
rider
to
where
we'll
give
you
that
energy
back.
If
there
are
a
few
days
when
you've
pushed
too
much
energy
onto
onto
the
utility
system,
so.
A
B
What
happens
is
if
you
use
less
energy
in
a
given
hour,
obviously
that
energy
is
going
to
flow
onto
our
system,
if
that
next
hour,
you're
using
more
energy
will
give
you
that
energy
back
so
we're
kind
of
playing.
I
don't
say
banker
but
we'll
take
that
energy
and
then
we'll
give
it
right
back
to
you
if
at
the
end
of
a
year-
and
this
is
actually
done
in
february-
let's
say
you've
over
the
entire
year
produced
more
energy
from
your
solar
panel
than
you've
used.
B
B
Well
and
the
other
the
next
step,
I
think
that
we're
going
to
start
pursuing
here
in
the
next
coming
years
is
if
it
if
it
makes
sense
to
do
utility
sized
wind.
Could
we
be
doing
something
that
that's
known
in
the
industry
as
a
community
solar
project,
so
instead
of,
if
you're
concerned
about
putting
holes
in
your
roof
or
maybe
your
roof
is
facing
the
wrong
direction.
So
you're
not
maximizing
that,
maybe
there's
an
area
where
for
our
customers
we
can
design
a
community
solar
project,
and
this
is
still
in
its
infancy.
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A
B
Yes
and
and
that's
real
easy
in
fact,
there
was
a
a
lady
that
called
me
up
yesterday
and
says:
what
is
this
audit
thing
and
how
do
I
get
it
and
walked
her
right
through
right
on
our
website?
You
know,
cityofames.org
you
go
to
the
smart,
energy
and
residential
programs,
and
in
there
you
just
click
on
it.
There's
a
form
to
fill
out
and
we'll
set
it
up,
and
we
have
an
expert
come
out,
look
at
your
home
and
give
you
suggestions,
it's
all
free
and
give
you
suggestions
on
how
to
save
some
energy
yeah.
A
That's
great,
I
know
that's
one
of
the
ones
you
can
sign
up
online
or
you
can
download
the
application
and
send
it
in.
It
does
take
a
couple
hours
of
your
time
with
an
energy
auditor,
but
I
have
done
it
and
found
a
lot
of
helpful
information,
those
low-hanging
fruit,
the
things
I
could
do
right
away
and
then
I
sort
of
prioritized
the
list
of
things
I
could
do
long
term.
You.
B
Know
it's
interesting
to
say
that
I
had
one
done
at
my
home
and
one
of
the
things
I
didn't
realize
is:
I
have
a
gas
fireplace
and
he
recommended
that
I
turn
off
the
pilot
in
the
summer
and
it
made
perfect
sense.
I
hadn't
done
that
for
years,
but
by
turning
off
the
pilot,
I
wasn't
heating
the
fireplace
while
cooling,
the
rest
of
the
house
and
saved
me
a
little
bit
of
money.
Yeah.
A
B
A
Don
well,
if
you
want
more
information
on
home
energy
audits
or
any
of
the
smart
energy
programs,
remember
you
can
get
that
information
at
our
website
at
cityofames.org
forward.
Slash,
smart
energy,
other
things
for
your
calendar
for
november.
Remember,
city
hall
will
be
closed
on
tuesday
november
11th
for
veterans
day.
Also,
if
you
missed
the
first
yard
waste
free
day,
there
are
three
more
saturdays
where
you
can
dispose
of
your
yard
waste
at
no
charge.