Last week’s announcement that Marshall Municipal Utilities would build four natural gas power generators came about after rapid action taken by Marshall city leaders to ensure their construction could take place.

Marshall’s city council voted in special session Wednesday evening to sign a written contract required by the Southwest Power Pool to tie the generators into the multi-state power grid. Mayor Vince Lutterbie says the city only learned two days before that the power pool required such a contract.

Lutterbie explains how the new plant will benefit Marshall residents.

The new generators will have a capacity of 130 megawatts, and is intended to supplement the increased use of renewable energy in the coming years. MMU has identified a city storage lot next to the Miami substation as the site of the future power plant.