Whitefish hydro plant goes online

Whitefish once again has its own hydroelectric plant.

With a refurbished generator, turbine and controls, the 30-year-old plant went online Friday, producing its first electricity under a power purchase agreement with Flathead Electric Cooperative.

City officials last year negotiated a deal with the electric cooperative that outlines power delivery terms for a 20-year period, in two separate phases. Flathead Electric paid the city $400,000 in advance for energy to be generated and delivered to the power grid during the first phase.

This money, plus a $200,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant provided through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, was used to rebuild the hydroelectric facility, Whitefish Public Works Director John Wilson said.

The first phase, not to exceed eight years following the startup date of the hydroelectric facility, will enable the city to generate and deliver 6.6 million kilowatt-hours of energy to the power grid. The second phase would run through the remainder of the 20 years.

During Phase 2, Flathead Electric will accept generated energy in exchange for energy delivered to select accounts with the Public Works and Parks departments, cooperative spokeswoman Wendy Ostrom-Price said.

The amount of power generated will vary, depending on stream flows and the time of year, Wilson said. The generator has a capacity of 200 kilowatts per hour, but initially will run at about 165 kilowatts per hour. Spring runoff will bring higher output.

The hydroelectric facility will operate 365 days a year, Wilson said, and will be maintained by the city’s public works staff.

Flathead Electric General Manager Ken Sugden said the deal is mutually beneficial.

“Pre-purchasing the energy made the project feasible for Whitefish and gives Flathead Electric another local source of clean energy,” Sugden said. “Eventually, the energy will be used in the city of Whitefish’s own water and sewer pumping loads.”

Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns agreed the deal is reciprocal.

“Flathead Electric gets to diversify its power source and, once our loan is offset, the energy goes toward our own consumption.”

Stearns acknowledged the cooperative’s “tremendous effort” in making the project a go. The city used a design-build team that included Dick Anderson Construction of Bozeman and CTA Architects Engineers of Kalispell.

The original hydroelectric facility was installed at the city reservoir in 1983, but serious damage occurred to the equipment on two occasions. Within the first few years of its operation, debris entered the turbine and damaged the Pelton wheel. A new Pelton wheel manufactured by a foundry in Anaconda was used at the Whitefish plant, but a lightning strike in 1989 or 1990 burned parts of the generator and put the facility out of operation.