Another wakeup call went out this week as area leaders were told that changes in the West’s power supply and consumption is impacting how Rocky Mountain Power operates and staffs their two power plants here locally.
In a meeting sponsored by BEAR – Business Expansion and Retention – an update on the two power plants was given to discuss the changes in power supply and demands, and the encouragement to move forward to securing a more diversified economy here.
“These power plants have been near and dear to us for a lot of years and they have provided a lot of jobs and benefits,” said Darrell Cunningham, managing Director of the Huntington Power Plant for PacifiCorp Energy. “But things are changing for us in how we produce power.”
Deb Dull, Rocky Mountain Power Regional Marketing Manager, explained the new power marketplace as a complex power supply grid where we actually have too much power being generated here in the West because of the influx of wind, solar, natural gas and other alternative power generating sources.
Rocky Mountain Power is part of a consortium in the west that is measuring available power and demands in the West in five minute increments. When there is an abundance of power being generated by solar panels in California, there are times when California will pay companies like Rocky Mountain Power to take their excess.
And the inverse holds true when coal power plants are ramped up when the sun goes down and the wind quits blowing.
Dull explained that this excess power then becomes very inexpensive, even less expensive than their own power produced by coal, and because the savings benefit all of their customers, it is smart to take it into their grid.
“When this happens it impacts our own coal power plants as we have to adjust their output to accommodate these outside sources,” said Dull. “Right now our Hunter and Huntington power plants are being used to stabilize our power needs.”
And Cunningham agreed as he explained to the group that the power plant employees are becoming very good and ramping up and down the generators to make sure there is a constant source of power in the system to make up the difference when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining in other parts of the system.
“It started out with us chasing wind power, which is unreliable, and then we started chasing the solar cycles,” said Dull. “And we have been using coal power to fill in the gaps.”
“How do we anticipate the increases we need when solar and wind drop?,” asked Dull. “We add more heat to our boilers. Being able to ramp our power supply up and down quickly is our survival.”
Cunningham explained that for many years the power plants in Emery County were always producing between 90 and 100 percent of capacity with sometimes crews pushing everything at the plant to produce at a level of 105 percent.
“That is not the case any more,” said Cunningham. “Being able to adjust to power supplies and demands to keep power levels constant is what will keep us in business.”
It was noted that both the Hunter and Huntington power plants were awarded first and second place honors by a worldwide organization as top performers in power production for reliability trends, consistent performance and safety emphasis.
“Renewables are here to stay,” added Dull. “We have to plan accordingly. It is a new world out there. We won’t be going back to the way it was. But we can stay in operation for quite a few more years if we continue to adapt our plants to the needs of our customers.”
Currently the Hunter and Huntington power plants experience several times each day when they are running at full capacity. Overall generation capacity averages out over the month at about 50 percent.
“Don’t misunderstand us,” said Cunningham. “We are still very much a big player in the market place in providing reliable power and will be for several more years to come. It’s just that we are adjusting what we do to be the constant power source that is called on to fill in the gaps.”
Discussions after the meeting talked about the constant search for any other businesses or industries that could set up business here which the members of BEAR are discussing on a regular basis.
As more sources enter power grid, coal plants adjust
Coal Power Plant