CONTACT: LaVerne Kyriss, 720-962-7051, kyriss@wapa.gov
SUNDANCE RECORD OF DECISION ISSUED
LAKEWOOD, Colo.--The Record of Decision for the Sundance Energy Project was issued today. The ROD documents Western Area Power Administration’s decision to enter into interconnection and transmission service agreements with PPL Sundance Energy, LLC. The agreement provides Sundance with an interconnection to Western’s Parker-Davis transmission system. The basis of the decision is documented in the ROD.
Copies of the ROD may be obtained from John Holt, environmental manager,
Western Area Power Administration, Desert Southwest Region, P.O. Box 6457,
Phoenix, AZ, 85005-6457, (602) 352-2592, FAX: (602) 352-2630,
e-mail: holt@wapa.gov. The ROD will be available on Western’s Web site
under the link to the Sundance Energy Project at www.wapa.gov. once it
is published in the Federal Register.
Sundance plans to construct and operate a nominal 540-megawatt, natural gas-fired, simple cycle, electrical generation peaking plant south of Coolidge, AZ. in rural Pinal County. Sundance Energy, owns the property on which it will build the power plant.
The project will be a “merchant plant,” which means that it is not owned
by a utility. Currently, there is no long-term commitment or obligation
by any utility to purchase the capacity and energy generated by the Sundance
Plant.
The project will instead, seek to market its capacity and energy to
the regional electric markets. Power purchases by customers will be voluntary,
wholesale purchases and all economic project costs will be borne by the
project, not by any utility rate payers.
Sundance Energy applied to interconnect its proposed powerplant with
Western’s transmission system. Western, as an agency in the Department
of Energy and a major transmission system owner, must provide access to
its transmission system when it is requested by an eligible organization
per existing policies, regulations and laws.
To accommodate the request, Western will upgrade and add to its transmission
system to incorporate the new generation.
Transmission system additions include a new 230-kV bay at Western’s existing Coolidge Substation, an upgrade of the existing Coolidge-Signal 115-kV No. 2 Transmission Line to 230-kV and an expansion of the existing substation. Western will also build new single- and double-circuit 230-kV transmission line additions.
The interconnections will integrate the power generated by the project into the regional transmission grid and will allow Sundance to supply its power to the competitive electric wholesale market.
Western Area Power Administration annually markets and transmits more than 10,000 megawatts of power from hydroelectric powerplants owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 15 central and western states.