Murray expands garbage power

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Sep 9, 2007 | by Leigh Dethman Deseret Morning News

Murray city won't give up on renewable energy.

Despite a rough start, the city is expanding its use of trash to generate electricity. The city recently inked a contract to build another methane gas plant at the Trans-Jordan Landfill.

The city already powers more than 2,500 homes from electricity churned from methane gas naturally created by garbage at the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility. Once the Trans-Jordan plant is up and running, 13 percent of Murray's energy will come from renewable resources, said Dan Stireman, Murray's energy services manager.

Murray officials believe the trash at the Trans-Jordan landfill will start powering homes by the end of 2008.

"This is the right thing to do," Stireman said. "We just felt like we could integrate this resource rather than going out and utilizing more coal power."

The city initially voted against a methane gas energy project, after a cost-benefit analysis scared off elected officials, said Blaine Haacke, general manager of Murray City Power.

But the Murray utility was persistent and ended up winning the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Provider Partner of the Year Award in 2006 for developing the Salt Lake landfill project.

"Murray has always been looked at as a very progressive utility," Stireman said. "We stick our necks out now and then doing different things."

The new methane gas project will initially be 1.5 times bigger than the plant at the Salt Lake Valley landfill and has the potential to triple in size, Stireman said.

Only one other municipality in the state uses methane gas to generate power. Two engines at the Wasatch Integrated Management District in Davis County supply electricity to Hill Air Force Base.

The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to identify other projects across the county that would provide a clean and secure energy source, like the Utah landfill projects.

The EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program was designed to promote the use of landfill gas and help businesses, states, energy providers and communities protect the environment and build a sustainable future by preventing methane emissions.

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com