Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Alliant Energy requests additional time to complete project in Royal
According to Alliant officials, a vareity of factors have delayed the underground electrical project.
The electrical utility operator in Royal wants more time to comply with terms of an agreement with the city.
Torin Erickson, customer operations supervisor with Alliant Energy, said during the Nov. 8 city council meeting that Alliant Energy wants to extend the completion deadline for the underground electrical project. That deadline was established in an agreement reached in 2018.
One condition of the agreement was that Alliant Energy would bury all of the main electrical lines by Oct. 12, 2023. If they failed to do so by that date, the city could terminate the electrical franchise.
During discussion in October, Mayor Josh Toft recommended sending a letter to Alliant Energy requesting that the agreement be extended to 2025. Council members concurred with his recommendation.
Erickson said Alliant is "absolutely agreeable" to a two-year extension of the agreement.
"We feel it was in everyone's best interest to finish the work and for the city to maintain the right to terminate the franchise," he added.
Most of the underground work related to the upgrade project is finished. However, supply chain issues have delayed delivery of single-phase transformers.
"We can't get our hands on them," Erickson said. "There's not a dozen companies out there building the equipment and supplying it. It's tough."
Alliant does not expect getting a shipment of transformers until April of 2024. Erickson cautioned that those transformers may not be designated for the underground project and additional delivery delays could occur.
He added that Alliant wants to complete the project as soon as possible but cannot guarantee it will be done by the new deadline.
"We might be having this conversation in two years. I don't want to falsely set expectations," Erickson noted.
The city will continue discussions with Alliant Energy regarding an extension of the agreement.
Council members also questioned the progress of street light replacement. According to Erickson, Alliant installs new LED street lights as existing bulbs burn out, rather than replacing them at once. He agreed that all street lights should eventually be replaced.
"I would like to see that be a whole community project," he said.
