New power plant dedicated in Audubon County

A new power plant was dedicated Wednesday afternoon in the Audubon County town of Brayton in western Iowa that will provide electricity for people in a four-state area. The plant is operated by Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Missouri River Energy Services, which provides electricity to 250-thousand customers in Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota. The plant is located just south of Brayton, but is called the “Exira Station.” Missouri River Energy Services C-E-O Tom Heller says there’s a reason they located the plant where they did.He says the main reason is because an electric transmission and natural gas line intersect at the site. Heller says the Exira Station is his company’s first power plant in Iowa.He says the plant has two 45-thousand megawatt generators that can provide electricity to 12-thousand residential homes. The plant was first used last weekend when the company’s coal plant in Wyoming was off-line. The plant is operated by Missouri River Energy Services but is owned by the Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, which is an affiliate of M-R-E-S. Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency President Don Habicht says the plant cost 50-million dollars to construct. Three people will be employed at the site, and Habicht says it will provide other economic benefits to the area.Harold Schiebout, the Chairman of the Board of Missouri River Energy Services and Manager of the Sioux Center Municipal Utility, says the Exira Station is the largest single project they’ve undertaken. Schiebout says the new facility is an important resource in the company’s power supply. The new plant is a “peaking plant,” which means it won’t be run all the time, but primarily at times when power usage is the greatest. The formal dedication was held in the Brayton Town Hall, and guests also had an opportunity to tour the plant, which is located about two miles south of Brayton.