Blue Valley
The Blue Valley Power Plant is being retired after providing electrical power to the community for over xxx year.
Blue Valley was run only infrequently in recent years as cheaper power was available for purchase, but it also stood as the solitary symbol of Independence Power and Light.
The power plant is a reflection of the ebbs and flows of the ever changing electrical industry.
Blue Valley initially opened in 1958 with two 22 MW turbines to which a larger 54 MW turbine was added in 1965. All this occurred during a period of significant population growth in the community.
Short History
It took 18 months to construct the Blue Valley power plant, according to an official history of IPL.
“Construction of Blue Valley Power Station was only part of an ambitious upgrade which would make the Independence electric utility energy independent for the next 40 years,” the history states.
The number of IPL customers grew from 6,835 customers in 1955 to 29,317 by 1965 - a 400% increase. It reached a peak summer load of 54 kw in July 1963. The rapid growth and additional revenue allowed IPL to modernize including installing traffic and street lights.
“Experience in the 1970 would have suggested to Department managers that growth and inexpensive electric power would continue to characterize life in Independence for many years to come,” the history shares. “That wasn’t to be the case. The era of inexpensive fuel was about to come to an abrupt close.”
During its history, Blue Valley has burned either natural gas or coal. The original two generating units have not been running recently and the new 54 MW will be officially shut down next month.
The complete shut of Blue Valley became possible when the city entered a long-term agreement to met its capacity obligations to the Southwest Power Pool through an agreement with Oneta.
