Energy has always been an issue for national and state officials and now it’s becoming more prominent at the local level. Henderson Mayor Brad Staton, who stepped into office on Jan. 1, lists the city’s energy resilience as one of his top goals the next four years.
For Henderson to become more resilient in its power production, the city and Henderson Municipal Power & Light need to be able to continue to contract with various energy producers while also looking to begin producing some of their own power again.
In an interview with the Hendersonian, Staton said his energy goal is simple: find multiple sources, including solar, fusion, nuclear and natural gas peaking plants, so that rates can remain low.
“The ultimate goal is to produce reliable electricity at the lowest cost for customers,” he said.
The city in 2019 began buying power from Midcontinent Independent System Operator, an independent, not-for-profit, member-based electric grid operator which disperses electricity to the city, and according to its website, 45 million people in 15 states and a province in Canada.
The city also contracts with various power producers that sell the energy they produce to the grid that Henderson Municipal Power & Light contracts with, MISO. HMP&L is also looking to produce and store its own power for the city’s use, said Staton and HMP&L General Manager Brad Bickett.
If HMP&L were able to produce and store its own power, residents could be supplied directly from local sources. At certain times, power would also be able to be sold back to the grid. Both measures would keep electricity rates at some of the lowest in the region and nation.
The current residential rate is set at 7.392 cents per kWh. Residential rates are set to increase to 7.94 cents per kWh. To put that into context, a typical customer using 1,000 kWh per month would pay $96.91 for electric rates, according to Bickett.
Bickett said the bills of customers of other nearby electricity providers are 30-45 percent higher, or about $130 to a Hendersonian’s $96.oo+.
Though coal supplies a percentage of the power that is dispersed to the city, it doesn’t appear the construction of a new coal-fired plant is on the horizon—they’re just too expensive to build in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
The city retired Station Two, a coal-fired electric plant, at Big Rivers in Sebree in 2019. Staton said the city would have needed to spend up to $80 million to meet regulations and repair the plant, which would have resulted in steep increases to rate payers.
Both Bickett and Staton said finding methods for the city to produce power and in turn sell it back to MISO would be a way to keep rates low in the future.
“We want to produce power to supply the grid we pull from,” Staton said.
Bickett said HMP&L is pursuing a 50-megawatt solar field on 541 acres on the south side of the city. Additionally, requests for proposals have also been submitted for a natural gas peaking plant and two battery storage substations.
Population Growth
Another desire Staton has is to see the city’s population grow by 10 percent, which would push it above the 30,000-person mark. That potential growth wouldn’t be confined to city limits, as people moving to the area would settle in the county, too.
Both Staton and Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider want to see population increases.
Economic development is dependent upon having a big enough workforce and that base of people needs to be present before new industry moves to town.
“Economic development will not happen in this area without the population,” Staton said.
Population growth would also broaden the tax base, so that quality of life amenities, such as the planned sports complex and a possible new convention center at Audubon State Park, can be funded without tax increases.
“We don’t want to pay for these things with tax increases,” Staton said.
Additionally, increased population would allow the city to remain in a federally required Metropolitan Planning Organization. Currently, Henderson is a part of Evansville’s MPO, but that could change. If the county population grows to more than 50,000, the county could be designated its own MPO and retain the benefits it currently receives as being a part of Evansville’s MPO.
According to a U.S. Dept. of Transportation website, an MPO must be designated for any urban area with more than 50,000 residents so that transportation planning can be carried out. Being designated is also a condition of receiving federal funding from the organization, as Henderson currently does to the tune of $1 ½ million to $2 million.
The city uses that money to fund public transportation and special road projects, Staton said. He doesn’t want to lose that—a sizeable chunk of the city’s $36-million-plus budget.
Inner City Redevelopment
Staton believes meaningful improvement in the inner-city area, defined as from Sand Lane to Washington Street and Green Street to Atkinson Street, can be achieved with a plan already in progress.
Henderson City Commission in August 2022 approved $1.2 million funding, with $300,000 dispersed over the next four years to go towards these improvements, Staton said.
Committees consisting of elected officials, city officials and the area’s residents began meeting at the start of the year. Five groups are working on five different initiatives—blight/affordable housing; infrastructure; beautification/special projects; economic development and public safety.
Staton said city officials in the past had started on efforts to bolster the area, but for whatever reason—other problems arising—there was no follow-through.
Committees will present the most-needed projects to come from their work groups at a June 22 meeting.
