March 15, 2008

How to make a power plant a welcome neighbor

Derick Dahlen, Avant Energy, and Dave Pokorney, Minnesota Municipal Power Agency

Constructing the plant

Avant Energy was also the construction manager, which helped us maintain consistency from the site selection and design processes. We knew that the good relationships built with the Faribault community during the preconstruction stage could be lost or damaged if we didn't live up to our word to be a good neighbor during construction. Several actions helped us preserve a positive relationship with the community:

• We hired a veteran construction project manager to be the on-site trail boss of this project.
• We went to the Minnesota construction trade unions and let them know we were committed to utilizing the quality and reliability provided by the local trades. The result was a positive working relationship among all the trades throughout all phases of construction. The trades exhibited a remarkable degree of collaboration and contributed greatly to the project meeting its objectives (Figure 3).
• We maintained a flow of communication with the community. We offered to speak at community functions, we joined and participated in Chamber of Commerce meetings, and we invited city and legislative leaders to tour the site. We were open to the media and let them know of important construction milestones. We continued to talk about the economic and environmental attributes of the project. And we listened.
• We ran a clean, safe site. Sloppiness was not tolerated. If not for a minor injury a week before completion, we would have had no lost-time accidents. And remember that construction was undertaken in two phases from 2003 through 2007.
• We made it clear to our on-site team that they were ambassadors for all of Faribault Energy Park, its designers, and developers. As such, they were responsible for maintaining positive relationships in the community.
• We bought locally whenever possible, generating as much economic activity in the community as we could.
• When questions about noise from the plant were raised in 2005 after the initial phase was up and running, we placed decibel meters in several homes surrounding the property and reported on the results.

In short, we went about the business of keeping our promises.

3. Construction team. Workers and tradespeople who built Faribault Energy Park gathered with their families for a group picture at the grand opening. Courtesy: Avant Energy