Celebrating success
The grand opening celebration was something to behold. Based on the food tickets distributed, we estimate that approximately 5,000 people entered Faribault Energy Park's gates on a beautiful October afternoon last fall (Figure 4). The Faribault Daily News reported the next day that “The only hitch in Saturday's grand opening of the Faribault Energy Park was that the fish weren't biting. But countless Faribault residents took the bait Saturday, turning up north of town to check out the environmentally friendly power plant.” The Minneapolis StarTribune also reported that “In addition to power generation, the 35-acre park will serve as an educational facility about environmentally friendly power generation. Visitors can view the control room, steam turbine operations, oil storage and water collection systems from internal and external observation decks.”
4. Grand-opening crowd. Thousands of local residents attended the grand opening of Faribault Energy Park in October 2007. Courtesy: Avant Energy
Faribault Mayor Charles Ackman summed up the feelings of the community in his grand opening ceremony remarks by noting, “Faribault Energy Park is a welcome addition to our community. It is providing good jobs along with amenities you'd never imagine from a power facility, including tours, public use of their park-like wetlands area [Figure 5], and the educational displays.”
5. Local fishing hole. Youngsters drop a line into one of several ponds on the Faribault Energy Park property. The ponds are accessible to the community and are stocked with bass and bluegills. Courtesy: Avant Energy
Crossing the finish line
We know that maintaining a positive reputation in the community is a daily task. A key manager at the site, Mark Tresidder, has responsibility to sustain communications with the community. He acts as the human connection to the facility, schedules tours, and is an active participant in community affairs.
Soon, we will report to the community on our experimental burns of renewable, or biomass, energy sources such as recycled vegetable oil, soy oil, and camelina oil. And as the ground thaws, educational displays demonstrating alternative energy sources including hydro, solar, and wind energy will emerge in the facility's 20 acres of wetlands.
—Derick Dahlen (derick.dahlen@avantenergy.com) is president of Avant Energy in Minneapolis, which designed and managed construction of Faribault Energy Park and today manages operations. Dave Pokorney (dpokorney@chaskamn.com) is chairman of the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and the owner/developer of Faribault Energy Park. Pokorney is also city administrator for the city of Chaska, Minn.
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