June 15^th, 2010

John Olsen

Westar Energy

818 South Kansas Avenue

P.O. Box 889

Topeka, Kansas 66601

Dear Mr. Olsen:

The City of Lawrence has been a long-term electric customer of Westar Energy.  The relationship has been positive, mutually beneficial, and the City considers Westar a strong energy partner.  Many years ago, however, prior to developing the franchise agreement with Westar, the City of Lawrence was powered exclusively by the mechanical and electrical energy produced off the Bowersock Dam by The Bowersock Mills & Power Company (BMPC).  The Bowersock operation has been a part of the history and heritage of the City of Lawrence since 1874. It not only played a key role in the growth and existence of the city, but has also been a consistent contributor to the community.  The City of Lawrence is a partner with Bowersock in the maintenance of the Bowersock Dam, which provides the pool for the Kaw River Water Treatment Plant. 

In addition to working with the City to protect its water supply and providing stable jobs and employment for Lawrence residents for over one hundred years, Bowersock’s production of clean renewable energy has recently gained recognition for the community in news publications and national television. 

Based on our shared history and our community’s expressed commitment to supporting renewable energy, the City of Lawrence would like to convey our strong interest in using Bowersock’s energy within our own community.  If it were possible in the context of today’s electric utility rules and regulations, we would like to request that Westar consider obtaining the energy output from the expanded Bowersock Project (6.8 MW) so that the community can still consider it a local power source.  Many in Lawrence enjoy the opportunity to support local generation through the purchase of green attributes (RECs) from Bowersock.  Local businesses such as the Free State Brewery and the Journal World and government entities including the University of Kansas and the City of Lawrence have purchased the Green Credits from the Bowersock plant over the past several years.  We understand from Bowersock, however, that this is not likely to be an option in the future unless Westar were to regain the output from the plant in their energy portfolio.

This letter is to communicate to Westar Energy, our energy supplier, that the City of Lawrence would like Westar to consider acquiring output from the Lawrence BMPC Kansas River hydroelectric power plant as a piece of the company’s renewable energy portfolio.  We laud Westar’s recent acquisition of wind and landfill gas generation but as a community find particular value in using locally-generated renewable energy from our own City.  We would appreciate your consideration of this project as they conduct power purchase agreement discussions for the output of the expanded project over the next several weeks.

Sincerely,

Mike Amyx

Mayor