Farmington Electric Commissions Two New Engines at Bluffview Plant to Boost Reliability

Farmington Electric added two newly installed 2V34SG Wärtsilä reciprocating internal combustion engines at its Bluffview Power Plant, 755 W. Murray Drive, increasing on-site generation by roughly 18 megawatts. The utility held a ribbon-cutting at Bluffview on Jan. 14 to mark completion and commissioning of the units, which are intended to bolster local reliability and resilience.

The ribbon-cutting was closed to the public for safety reasons but drew local officials and utility leaders, including Mayor Nate Duckett, FEUS Electric Utility Director Hank Adair, and Andrew Phillips, director of business development for Wärtsilä. Members of the Farmington City Council, the Farmington Chamber of Commerce Red Coats, and the Farmington Public Utility Commission attended, and guests toured the new building housing the engines before their initial startup; a city photo of Mayor Duckett at the ceremony is credited to Gina Intoppa/Courtesy City of Farmington.

FEUS contracted with Wärtsilä in fall 2023 to supply the two high-efficiency reciprocating internal combustion engine units. Each engine is capable of producing approximately 9 MW, yielding about 18 MW combined, and the units sit inside a newly constructed building at the Bluffview site. Farmington reported hiring one new full-time employee to operate the units and said about 80 contractors from the surrounding region helped install the engines and build the housing structure.

Local reporting places the installation timeline in late December, with the utility marking commissioning at the Jan. 14 ceremony; one regional outlet used present-progress language that indicated installation work had been ongoing. The city and FEUS characterize the engines as commissioned and available to support peak demand and provide backup power to the local grid.

The engines currently run on natural gas supplied from the San Juan Basin but are manufactured to accept alternative fuels, including biofuels, synthetic fuels, and hydrogen blends, creating a pathway for future fuel testing or blends. FEUS Electric Utility Director Hank Adair framed the investment as multipronged: “Our goals were based on reliability, low cost energy for our customers and environmental benefit. And one of the pieces of generation to be added in our portfolio was some reciprocating [...]”

FEUS says the 18 MW of locally controlled generation will help reduce reliance on volatile energy markets and support the utility’s efforts to keep rates affordable. One report estimated the new capacity is enough to power roughly 14,000 homes; FEUS serves about 46,000 metered customers across Farmington, Bloomfield and Kirtland and portions of Rio Arriba County and the Navajo Nation.

The Bluffview engines are part of a broader city plan to diversify the power portfolio after the San Juan Generating Station closure in 2017. City statements under the heading “Strengthening Energy Independence” note plans to break ground on a 4 MW AC solar array paired with 12 megawatt-hours of battery storage next year, positioning the Wärtsilä units, solar and storage as complementary pieces in Farmington’s local generation and resilience strategy.