NEWS FROM WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 3, 2007
CONTACT: Randy
Wilkerson, (720) 962-7056
WESTERN AREA POWER ADMINISTRATION—ENERGY, PEOPLE AND SERVICE
LAKEWOOD, Colo.—Every day, Western's power system dispatchers work around the clock to keep the lights on, coordinating the ebb and flow of electricity across thousands of miles of power lines, so that when you need lights for your home or energy to run your computer, it's there.
The simple act of turning on a light entails the intricate coordination of many powerplant operators, dispatchers and maintenance and communication crews who command our nation’s power grid. To transport power from the plants where it’s generated to the homes and businesses that depend on its instant availability, these valuable workers delicately balance supply and demand and coordinate power flow across 150,000 miles of transmission lines managed by 130 different control areas nationwide. And all this synchronization happens 24 hours a day, without you knowing the minute-by-minute, behind-the-scenes work on your behalf.
Western plays a major role in allowing people all over the western United States to take energy for granted. Dispatchers at Western’s control centers in Loveland, Colo., Phoenix, Ariz., Folsom, Calif., and Watertown, S.D., ensure that power constantly flows across Western’s 17,000-plus circuit-mile transmission system so that customers can turn on air conditioners in the arid Arizona desert, run irrigation pumps in Kansas wheat fields or illuminate homes on Native American reservations.
Key focus on reliable transmission
Transmission is central to Western’s mission. Western
provides reliable, cost-based transmission using
an integrated 17,000 circuit-mile, high-voltage system,
spanning most of the western half of the United States. Western
is pursuing a number of initiatives to increase transmission
capacity and reliability, which will support evolving
regional needs such as increased interest in renewable
resources and requests from many developers for interconnections
to Western’s system.
Transmission system modernization is necessary to support cost-effective wholesale electricity markets. Robust regional planning processes identifying both economic and reliability needs of the grid are in place in the West, encouraging partnerships for transmission development. Joint ownership of transmission projects has resulted in a highly integrated system that has fostered extensive cooperation and economic coordination among transmission partners.
In 2004, Western constructed the Path 15 Upgrade Project in central California to relieve a major transmission bottleneck. Currently, Western is involved in expanding the regional transmission network in eastern Colorado and western Kansas in a partnership with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Funding for these joint efforts is provided primarily by non-Federal partners. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 expands Western authority to use non-Federal funding to construct or participate in the construction of new transmission that will relieve bottlenecks in “national interest electric transmission corridors,” or is necessary to accommodate an actual or projected increase in demand for transmission capacity.
Western looks to the future
Through state-of-the-art technology and equipment
enhancements, Western continues
to improve transmission system capability as well
as performance and reliable operation of the Federal
system. These enhancements mitigate some
constraints without adding new lines to the grid. Western
continues to field test high-capacity composite
conductors designed to significantly increase the
transfer capacity of existing transmission lines
in relieving system congestion.
Wind generation and other renewable energy options look promising to Western’s customers as solutions to increasing energy needs. Wind energy is the world's fastest-growing energy technology. With the recent passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, we expect to see average annual wind capacity expanding at rates exceeding 20 percent. The two-year extension of the Production Tax Credit for renewable resources assures that requests for transmission service and interconnection to Western’s transmission system, mainly from wind generation developers, will continue. However, reinforcement and system upgrades will be necessary to meet these requests and maintain grid reliability.
Western’s Energy Services Program helps customers improve energy efficiency, explore and use renewable energy options, find new technologies, and learn about programs and techniques at other utilities. Services include an equipment loan program, technical assistance, and a full menu of publications available both on-line and in printed version. Through its Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies program, Western coordinates renewable energy purchases and associated environmental benefits, or “green tags,” for other Federal agencies.
Employees make a difference
Western’s 483 employees in Colorado contribute
to its mission to market and deliver low-cost, reliable,
cost-based hydroelectric power and related services
in its 15-state service territory. The Rocky
Mountain Region, based in Loveland, Colo., operates
and maintains transmission facilities in Colorado,
Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas to market power from
the Loveland Area Projects. It also manages
a control area operations center in Loveland. Maintenance
crews are based in Loveland, Montrose, Craig, and
Brush, Colo. Staff at Western’s Energy
Management and Marketing Office in Montrose schedule
transmission, purchase energy and sell surplus energy
to meet customer’s energy needs. Employees
at the Corporate Services Office in Lakewood, Colo.,
accomplish the “behind-the scenes” work,
providing administrative and technical guidance and
support to Western’s field offices and staff.
Western employees participate actively in their communities with their time and their money. Among the many volunteer and charitable efforts throughout Western, employees at the Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Loveland co-sponsor the Rocky Mountain Regional Science Bowl and volunteer their time to conduct the event which encourages high school students to pursue careers in math and science by excelling in those fields. Employees at Western’s Corporate Services Office in Lakewood, Colo., donated more than $72,000 to this year’s Combined Federal Campaign.
Western contributes to local economies
A recent University of Colorado Leeds School of Business
study found that Western provides strong, positive
economic benefit to the cities and counties of
Western’s facilities and to the state of
Colorado. The net economic benefit to Colorado,
including cities and counties, was estimated at
$216.6 million in 2005, primarily from employee
wages and the indirect multiplier effect those
wages have in the community.
In addition to direct economic contributions, the study also highlighted a number of intangible benefits Western provides. One of the most important benefits is employment stability, providing a steady source of employment in and ever-changing local economy. The study also found that while Colorado is among the top states for educational attainment, Western’s workforce exceeds the state average.
About Western
As one of four power marketing administrations within
the Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration
markets and delivers electricity primarily generated
from hydropower projects located at Federally-owned
dams. The transmission system owned and operated
by Western, as an integral part of the nation’s
interconnected electrical grid, makes a significant
contribution to ensuring the reliable delivery
of Colorado’s, and the nation’s, energy
supply.
Until 1977, the Bureau of Reclamation operated the dams and powerplants, along with the vast transmission system that carried energy to where it was needed. With the passage of the Department of Energy Organization Act, the newly created Western Area Power Administration took over power marketing and transmission responsibilities, serving a 15-state region in the central and western United States.
Western employees conduct power sales, transmission operations and maintenance and engineering services at 51 duty stations throughout its service area. Its main offices include a Corporate Services Office in Lakewood, Colo.; regional offices in Billings, Mont.; Loveland, Colo.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Folsom, Calif.; and the Colorado River Storage Project Management Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Western also markets energy through offices in Watertown, S.D., and Montrose, Colo.
Western Area Power Administration markets and transmits about 10,000 megawatts of power from 56 hydropower plants. Western also markets the United States’ 547-MW entitlement from the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station near Page, Ariz. Western sells about 40 percent of regional hydroelectric generation in a service area that covers 1.3 million square miles in 15 states. Our customers include municipalities, cooperatives, public utility and irrigation districts, Federal and state agencies, investor-owned utilities (only one of which has an allocation of Federal hydropower from Western), marketers and Native American tribes. They, in turn, provide retail electric service to millions of consumers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
Low-cost hydropower benefits consumers
Various laws require Western to give a preference
to certain types of non-profit organizations seeking
to purchase Federal power. Those entitled
to this preference include cities and towns, state
and Federal agencies, irrigation districts, public
utility districts, Native American tribes and rural
electric cooperatives. Western’s customers
benefit from purchasing Federal hydropower because
their rates are less than those from other sources. Western’s
ability to set lower rates stems from several factors,
including the low cost of hydropower in comparison
to power generated from other sources as well as
the lower embedded capital cost of the hydropower
plants.
Legislation requires that the U.S. Treasury be repaid by those who purchase Western’s services, so power sales must produce enough revenue to cover power users’ share of annual operation and maintenance project costs. Western sets power rates to recover all costs associated with its activities, as well as the Federal investment in the power facilities, with interest, and certain costs assigned to power for repayment, such as aid to irrigation development.
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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 western and central states. It is part of the Department of Energy.
Serving the West with Federal hydropower
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