Glencoe will soon receive nearly 25 percent of its electricity from a plentiful renewable energy source just a few miles down the road: the Spruce Ridge landfill.

If all goes according to plan, Waste Management’s newest gas-to-energy plant could come online as early as next week, according to the firm’s district manager, Mark Reinert.

The plant’s commissioning will realize a long-shared vision for both Waste Management and the Glencoe Power and Light Commission. Construction on the plant broke ground in early September, but the utility’s general manager, Collin Engebretsen, said, “This has been ongoing since 2000 or 2001. There wasn’t enough gas volume before to make it economically feasible.”

The gas volume is now sufficient to power three engines and generators, with a fourth planned as volume increases.

Engebretsen said the landfill gas-to-energy power is also more competitive with wind energy now, because high demand and low supply for wind generators has pushed prices up to about 5.5 or six cents per kilowatt-hour. The Waste Management plant will start off at about 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

For more on this story, see the Leader’s April 3 print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com [2])