City Council to vote on buying wind power

Columbia might soon be the recipient of wind energy from Missouri’s first, yet to be fully constructed, “wind farm” in Gentry County in northwest Missouri.

On Monday, the City Council will decide whether to approve a memorandum of understanding to buy power from the Associated Electric Cooperative, the owner of 27 wind turbines north of King City. If the council approves the agreement, Columbia should start receiving energy from the Bluegrass Ridge wind farm by sometime in 2007, according to a news release from the Water and Light Department.

This wind-energy agreement, if passed, would fulfill the requirement of an ordinance passed by voters in 2004 that requires Columbia to receive at least 2 percent of its electricity from “renewable sources” by 2008. The ordinance calls for increasing amounts of renewable energy through 2020.

Associated Electric Cooperative plans to start operating its wind turbines by the end of this year.