COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CENTER

Western Area Power Administration, a federal power marketing administration, sells wholesale power and bulk wholesale transmission to local utilities who then provide the power to more than 40 million Americans. WAPA’s Colorado River Storage Project Management Center employees work around the clock to keep bulk power moving through the interconnected transmission system so that electricity ultimately reaches homes and businesses. ​
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The Ak-Chin Indian Community in Arizona; the city of Provo, Utah; and Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico are just a few of the more than 100 preference customers served by the CRSP Management Center. WAPA customers rely on federal hydroelectric resources to competitively serve communities in the West. Whether the need is lighting homes or providing power to local businesses, our goal is to provide customers with reliable hydropower.​

DELIVERING POWER

At the Colorado River Storage Project Management Center, we serve preference customers in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming and Texas. We sell and deliver power generated from the hydroelectric powerplants of the Colorado River Storage, Collbran, Dolores, Rio Grande and Seedskadee projects. The power is bundled and sold as the Salt Lake City Area/Integrated Projects to cities and towns, rural electric cooperatives, Native American tribes, irrigation districts and federal and state agencies. We also sell power from the Olmsted, Provo River and Falcon-Amistad projects. These resources total about 1,900 megawatts of installed generating capacity and produce enough energy to power 1.2 million households. To ensure delivery of these resources to our preference customers, we develop and direct marketing programs; develop, negotiate and administer contracts; set power rates; analyze hydroelectric power availability; participate in environmental protection measures; manage finances; and interact with customers in our seven-state marketing area.​

PROVIDING SERVICES

We are committed to serving customers on many different levels. We work together with our customers to provide new products and services tailored to their individual needs. We are also committed to protecting the delicate balance of the Colorado River. Agencies that manage this river’s resources must weigh many interests, including flood control, drought mitigation, irrigation, recreation, endangered species and historic properties. Balancing these interests along with the needs of water and electrical energy customers is a chief concern. We have been actively involved in ongoing environmental studies since the 1980s with a diverse group of stakeholders regarding operations at Glen Canyon Dam. These studies, along with similar studies at Flaming Gorge Dam and the Aspinall Units, represent WAPA’s commitment to actively engaging with other interested parties in best managing the resources of the Colorado River and its tributaries. At the CRSP MC, we aim to engage in an open and productive dialogue among all interested stakeholders.​

FACING THE FUTURE

We work at the forefront of technological advances and unprecedented changes within the electric utility industry. With many diverse players competing in the industry to buy and sell power, the CRSP MC strives to be a fiscally responsible, customer-oriented, highly efficient and innovative organization. We strive to be our customers’ advocate by understanding their business and the latest industry developments. Our future depends on maintaining the strong bond we have with our customers and demonstrating the value of the services we provide.​​