Shakopee Plant Saves Energy; Gains Check for Met Council

A new energy saving facility at a Shakopee wastewater treatment plant earned a big rebate check for the Metropolitan Council, which owns and operates the plant.

CenterPoint Energy gave the council a check for $150,000 because of the savings in natural gas that the plant no longer draws from CenterPoint Energy.

The Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant in Shakopee added a new facility to the plant that uses anaerobic digesters to produce methane biogas for fuel from solids, according to a Metropolitan Council newsletter. The conversion process fuels the production of fertilizer pellets at the plant and so reduces the use of natural gas. 

“Extracting energy from our biosolids is a good energy conservation strategy because in addition to reducing our energy costs and saving ratepayers’ money, there is the environmental benefit of reducing the community’s carbon footprint,” said Leisa Thompson in the newsletter. Thompson is the General Manager of Metropolitan Council Environmental Services.  

The cost of energy savings is an estimated $500,000 a year.

The Metropolitan Council represents districts in the seven county metro area with a board of 17 members.

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