Council mulls Huntsville Utilities board consolidation
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Huntsville is mulling big changes to city utilities, leaving the City Council with a big question: whether to consolidate Huntsville Utilities' three boards into one single entity.
Why it matters: The utility is prioritizing changing its governance structure as it eyes a new natural gas pipeline for North Alabama and a major update to its grid.
Catch up quick: Huntsville Utilities published its community energy resource plan (CERP) last month as it looks to provide power to the rapidly growing community that CEO Wes Kelley said is now the third-largest of 153 served by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
- The 78-page plan lays out four clear priorities: grid modernization, demand side management, local generation and governance changes.
- Comments and questions from the council during a meeting Friday were focused mainly on governance changes, a decision that could be made by the city council alone, with no involvement at the state level via Public Act 175.
What they're saying: "There is no Huntsville Utilities," Kelley said. "There is the City of Huntsville Electric Board, there's a City of Huntsville Natural Gas Board, there's a City of Huntsville Water Works Board."
- Describing the system as "awkward, unclear and complicated," he said it convolutes the contract process and employee pensions.
- District 1 Council Member Michelle Watkins pushed back on the idea of consolidation, saying it would lead to less transparency, higher risk and a loss of subject matter expertise.
Zoom in: Council members also considered the potential impacts of data centers, and the work of the recently created North Alabama Public Energy District to build a natural gas pipeline for the region.
- Data centers, Mayor Tommy Battle confirmed, are not a focus of the city's economic development efforts. Battle said they provide good capital investment up front, but don't employ many people and eat up lots of energy.
- "You could have 10 Mazda-Toyotas for one data center," he said.
What we're watching: Kelley said a corridor study should reach 30% completion this summer, after which he'll be back in front of the council with some firm numbers to make decisions on moving the project forward.
- Also, he said HU is working with the city and county to build a 45-megawatt solar plant in Triana, which would max out how much solar the city is able to produce under its agreement with TVA.
Go deeper: Huntsville Utilities maps out the future of local power