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BPA
POWER COSTS TOP $1 BILLION IN SIX MONTHS
BPA spent more than $1 billion buying power in the
first six months of fiscal year 2001. Power purchases are now
roughly half of BPA’s total operating expenses. The average price
BPA paid rose from $29 per megawatt hour in the first half of 2000
to $97 per MWh in the first half of this year.
BPA
ASKS CUSTOMERS TO HELP MITIGATE RATE INCREASE
"We need to do everything we can to avoid power
purchases in this incredibly expensive market." BPA
Acting Administrator Steve Wright told the region in an April press
conference. Wright laid out two paths the region could take:
-
Path
A, the current trajectory, would lead to a 250 percent or higher
BPA wholesale power rate increase this fall.
-
Path
B, a 5 to 10 percent load reduction by all BPA customers and
aluminum plants off line for up to two years, would keep BPA's
rate increase this fall below 100 percent.
"I know this will be tough, but the consequences of not taking this
path (B) will be even tougher," Wright said. "We're all in this together
and we can only get out of it if we work together."
To keep its rate increase below 100 percent, BPA is asking:
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Publicly owned utilities to reduce their loads on BPA by 5 to 10 percent.
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Investor-owned utilities to contribute a proportionate portion of the power
benefits they receive from BPA.
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Direct service industries, primarily aluminum companies, to delay restarting
their operations up to two years. Almost all aluminum smelting capacity
in the Northwest is now shut down. All aluminum companies except Kaiser
have agreed to compensate their workers during their shutdowns through
September.
BPA is offering to provide funds to continue employee compensation
for up to two more years, if the companies agree now to delay restart of their
plants.
Even just 1,000 megawatts of DSI load on BPA starting in October
would likely result in $1.5 billion in additional costs BPA would have to incur
for power purchases for 2002 alone.
BPA
DECLARES POWER EMERGENCE
On
April 3, Acting Administrator Steve Wright declared a power system
emergency for the Federal Columbia River Power System. The
power emergency is based on Northwest Power Planning Council
estimates of power system reliability
problems for
spring and summer of this year and the impact of spill for fish
passage under the 2000 Biological Opinion on West Coast power prices
and power system reliability.
AGENCIES
PROPOSE FISH ACTIONS
Six federal agencies, including BPA, have proposed a revised plan for running
the hydro system this drought year. The major difference is in water spilled
past the dams and additional streamflows normally released for fish. Under the
plan, the start date and amount of spill this year would be based on monthly
revisions of the forecast for this year's runoff for the Columbia River. No
water was spilled in April. As of this writing, spill for May is under
consideration.
Except for
flow levels and spill, BPA and the other federal agencies are doing
everything called for in the biological opinions on endangered
Columbia River fish and in the Northwest Power Planning Council's
Fish and Wildlife Program. This includes actions ranging from
improving dam passage facilities to restoring habitat, updating
hatcheries to conducting research.
Federal
agencies also have proposed specific actions to help improve
migration conditions for fish in this drought year. For example:
•
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will barge or truck as many Snake
River smolts as possible, between 70 to 90 percent of all migrants,
past federal dams this year.
•
The Corps has proposed to barge fish at McNary Dam this summer. This
would move smolts from the Upper Columbia and strays from the Snake
past the Lower Columbia dams.
•
BPA is continuing to provide mid-Columbia streamflows at a rate of
65 thousand cubic feet per second to keep salmon eggs submerged in
the Vernita Bar on the Hanford Reach.
•
The agencies also propose to pulse or surge water flows through
Lower Granite Dam to move smolts quickly through that pool.
The
agencies are seeking ideas to offset the potential effects of the
power emergency on fish, especially those listed under the
Endangered Species Act.
The
six federal agencies are: BPA, the Corps, Bureau of Reclamation,
National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and the Environmental Protection Agency.
BUY
A BETTER LIGHT BULB
From
Avista Utilities
to Vera Water & Power, 59 utilities have joined ranks with BPA
in a region-wide campaign to turn the region on to compact
fluorescent light bulbs. The bulbs fit any lamp and offer the same
light as ordinary bulbs, but use just one-fourth as much
energy and last eight to 10 times longer. The program offers
consumers coupons for $6 off on any compact fluorescent bulb rated
at 13 watts or more that carries the Energy Star label. BPA will pay
for as many $6 coupons as consumers redeem. Participating utilities
are distributing the coupons. Nearly 600 retailers are
participating, from chains such as Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart and Home
Depot to many independent stores.
LOTS OF WIND BLOWS IN
BPA
received 25 proposals for wind generation projects in response to a
recent request. "The response blew us away," said George
Darr, project manager. The projects add up to about 2,600 megawatts
of capacity. BPA will evaluate projects for cost, ease of
integration with the Northwest power grid and other factors. The
first projects should be on line in late 2002 or early 2003.
BPA SUPPORTS SOLAR STATION
BPA,
the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and Energy Northwest are
sponsoring a 50-kilowatt solar installation at Hanford, Wash.,
enough power for up to 50 homes. Estimated cost of the plant is
$250,000.
IRRIGATION
PROGRAMS CUT LOADS, INCREASE WATER IN STREAMS
BPA expects to reduce its power loads by 90 to 120 average megawatts this year
through irrigation buydown programs. Up to 100 aMW will be saved by paying
Columbia Basin Project irrigators not to irrigate. Water they would otherwise
use will stay in the Columbia River to generate power and help fish downstream.
Another irrigation program will save up to 20 aMW Total cost to BPA is about
S25 million. BPA is also leasing water rights from three eastern Oregon farmers
to increase Snake River flows and test water-right-leasing contracts.
TURBINE CONTRACTS EXPECTED
BPA is exhorting its customers to reduce demand on the agency for the first two
years of the 2002-2006 rate period. What happens after that?
Among other
things, new combustion turbines. "We're looking at buying the
output of several CTs," said Scott Wilson, Bulk Hub account
executive. "Some simple cycle CTs could come on line as early
as this winter. More-efficient combined cycle units could come on
line about two years from now. We're looking to buy the best,
cleanest, lowest-cost projects out there."
Each project
developer is obtaining the necessary siting and other permits for
its projects. Most of them are working with BPA's Transmission
Business Line to request integration to the BPA grid.
"Power
purchase contracts will be contingent on the developer obtaining all
the necessary permits. We're not taking any dry-hole risks,"
Wilson said. BPA's 1995 Business Plan Environmental Impact Statement
reviewed the environmental impacts of adding combustion turbines to
BPA's resource base.
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF AIR
IMPACTS
BPA
is doing an environmental study of the cumulative air-quality
impacts of more than 30 natural-gas-fired combustion turbines that
have been proposed for integration to the BPA transmission grid. Air
emissions are the primary cumulative environmental
impact of
combustion turbines. The study will assist BPA's National
Environmental Policy Act process and records of decision on
individual transmission and integration requests.
FERC APPROVES RTO WEST FILING
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has accepted the Northwest
proposal for a regional transmission organization. FERC
characterized the RTO West proposal as a key "first step."
RTO West can serve as an anchor for the ultimate formation of a West-wide
RTO, FERC said.
FERC
commended BPA and the eight Northwest utilities in RTO West for
their "extraordinary collaborative process" and for
finding a solution that includes both public and private utilities.
MORE WAYS TO GET TO BPA
BPA's Web site,
www.bpa.gov
,
has reams of information
on power, water, fish, transmission and energy conservation
subjects, including most of the stories in this edition of the BPA Journal.
Recently,
BPA has added two "hot buttons" to its home page that may
make information of interest easier to find.
For
energy-saving tips and links, click on the Energy Star on BPA's home
page.
For BPA fact
sheets, speeches, press releases, graphs and charts, photographs and
other general public information, click on the "Media
Center" button. You can also call our toll-free line
1-800-622-4520 to request printed documents delivered by mail.
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