Pratt Tribune
The impact of increases in natural gas rates for City of Pratt utility customers was a focus of the Pratt City Commissioners at their February 22 meeting, postponed from their scheduled meeting date of February 16 due to sub-zero weather conditions.
“Pratt citizens, and particularly business owners, are fortunate that the City of Pratt has a robust and diverse energy service profile,” said Commissioner Zach Deeds.
Pratt Electric Superintendent Jamie Huber said that natural gas prices went ridiculous as a result of the artic blast, which has an impact on city electric rates since natural gas is one of the fuels the city power plant uses to generate electricity.
Fran Brownell
Pratt Tribune
There were no power outages in Pratt during last week’s arctic freeze when other areas of the state were experiencing mandated rolling blackouts.
“Our solar farm worked up to its potential,” said Pratt Director of Electric Utilities Jamie Huber. “It can generate six megawatts per hour.”
The solar farm east of Pratt Community College, going into its third year of energy production, is not affected by cold weather, Huber said, although cloud cover and snow on panels can impact solar energy production.
The 36-acre solar farm has 22,232 solar panels each 10-foot high, in 500-foot rows, plus 32 combiner boxes and two inverters.
Gas leak found after multiple calls to 911 last Thursday in Pratt
Pratt Tribune
More than a dozen Pratt city firefighters and four or five Kansas Gas Service employees responded to 911 page-outs concerning a possible gas leak in Pratt last Thursday.
According to Kansas Gas Service Manager of Public Relations Dawn Tripp, no evacuations were necessary nor was service disrupted because of the leak that was pinpointed in a Kansas Gas Service line on the northwest side of the city. Thursday, January 14, 2021, Kansas Gas Service responded to odor reports at North Taylor and Logan Streets, in Pratt, Kansas, where crews discovered a leak on a natural gas main, Tripp said. Repairs were completed by noon on Friday.
Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Placed On Unpaid Administrative Leave After Running Over A Man During Pursuit
The Kiowa County Sheriff’s office announced that the deputy who was seen on video in August running over a man during a pursuit is now on administrative leave without pay.
Part-time deputy Jeremy Wilkerson-Rodriguez will remain on unpaid leave until the KBI and Kansas Attorney General complete their investigation into August 15th incident that left Lionel Womack seriously injured.
Video from the pursuit is also part of a civil rights lawsuit that was filed in December.
The dashcam video was obtained from the City of Pratt, wherein Pratt police officers assisted in a pursuit which began as a traffic stop by the KHP and escalated into a chase.