In what might have been the most prestigious gathering ever assembled at the St Joseph City Landfill, Governor Jay Nixon was on hand Thursday to help launch operations of the new methane power plant there.

The City of St Joseph and Kansas City Power and Light are partners in the project, which was financed by a $450 thousand bio-energy grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

KCP&L District Manager Matt Dority says there are currently 47 wells at the landfill, collecting methane gas, a natural byproduct of landfill operations.

The wells, anywhere from 30 to 90 feet deep, collect the gas and route it to the new 1.6-megawatt power plant.  The plant then generates enough electricity to serve about a thousand customers.

“To compete and win in the new economy we must encourage and embrace emerging science and technology,” Gov. Nixon said. “The world is just not the same world it used to be.”

“Now this project, creating a clean source of energy from a naturally-occurring byproduct in our landfills, brings together many of those elements that are vital to our economic growth.”

St Joseph Mayor Bill Falkner, retiring KCP&L CEO Mike Chesser, and Ray Kowalik of the architectural firm Burns & McDonnell joined the governor to cut the ribbon on the new plant Thursday.