Putting backup power to the test in Madelia

URGE testing ensures reliable power for city, Heartland and market

When a late winter storm rolled through southern Minnesota on March 4, Madelia Municipal Light & Power (MMLP) was ready.

Heavy snow, ice and strong winds put pressure on the transmission system overnight. By early morning, the city was experiencing brief power interruptions – three “blips” within 20 minutes.

Recognizing the risk of a prolonged outage, the MMLP crew quickly mobilized and fired up the utility’s local backup generators.

The utility’s quick thinking and prudent decision making proved to be right, ensuring the community’s safety and stability in a critical moment. Shortly after taking on the load, they lost their transmission feed. MMLP successfully carried the city on local generation for about six hours.

Once conditions stabilized, they safely reconnected to the line and began shut-down procedures.

Fortunately for MMLP, they put their generators to the test on an annual basis, making certain they can power the city when needed.

Market resource

MMLP’s five generators also play a role in guaranteeing sufficient capacity is available in the market.

MMLP operates within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which ensures power flows reliably and affordably across the central U.S.

Every year, MISO mandates behind-the-meter generators undergo URGE (Utility Required Generation Evaluation) testing so the utility, and market, know they will work when needed.

In March, MMLP put their generators to the test, running them at full capacity for one hour.

Heartland Energy Customer Relations Manager Kelly Dybdahl was on-site to help record the results.

The recorded output sets the level of power MMLP can provide during grid emergencies. Heartland Energy submits these results to MISO to meet reliability requirements.

The test results directly impact the generation credit MMLP receives. The utility is incentivized for providing a certain amount of capacity to the market.

Key piece of the power puzzle

MMLP’s generators are housed in part of the utility’s original 1939 power plant.

Heartland Energy secures capacity resources from a variety of sources, including market purchases, contracts with other utilities, and diesel generating plants like MMLP’s.

These agreements allow Heartland to maintain reserve margins and provide a hedge against high market prices. In times of peak demand or market volatility, having local generation available helps keep costs down while maintaining reliability.

Powering through outages

When transmission issues disrupt power, like they did in March, MMLP’s generators step in to keep the community running. With local crews and onsite generation, Madelia can respond quickly, reducing downtime and ensuring essential services stay online.

Heartland Energy works alongside its customers to ensure they have the power they need—whether that’s during a heatwave, a winter storm, or a sudden outage.

URGE testing is just one way to make sure the system is ready when it matters most.