Western Area Power Administration Rocky Mountain Region Generation and Marketing

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Western Area Power AdministrationRocky Mountain
RegionGeneration and Marketing

• Ancillary Services Technical Workshop
• March 18, 2004
• --Ron Steinbach

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Western Area Power Administration

• Five Regions
• 10,000 MW installed capacity
• 15 separate Congressionally authorized
  multipurpose projects
• Water requirements are project specific and
  dictate project operations
• Power operations are secondary (or lower)

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Rocky Mountain Region Generating Capability

• Four River Systems
• 20 Powerplants 39 units
• Installed Capacity 830 MW
• Operating Capability (FY 02) 744 MW
• Average Annual Generation 2,160 GWH

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Four Major River Basins

• Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Proram
• Bighorn River Basin
• North Platte River
• Colorado-Big Thompson (CBT)
• Fryingpan-Arkansas (Fry-Ark)
• Fry-Arks main featureMount Elbertis a
  pump-generator
• CBT and Fry-Ark are Trans-mountain Diversion
  Systems

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Big Horn River Basin

• Boysen 15 MW
• Buffalo Bill 18 MW
• Heart Mountain 5 MW
• Pilot Butte 2 MW
• Shoshone 3 MW
• Spirit Mountain 5 MW
• Yellowtail 125 MW
• (Yellowtail total is 2501/2 plant is marketed by
  Pick Sloan-Eastern Division)

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North Platte River

• Alcova 41 MW
• Fremont Canyon 67 MW
• Glendo 38 MW
• Guernsey 6 MW
• Kortes 36 MW
• Seminoe 52 MW
• Glendo and Guernsey generate only during summer
  season

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Colorado Big Thompson

• Big Thompson 5 MW
• Estes 45 MW
• Flatiron 95 MW
• Green Mountain 26 MW
• Marys Lake 8 MW
• Pole Hill 38 MW
• Flatiron includes one 9 MW pump-generator
• Big Thompson generates only during runoff

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FryingpanArkansas

• Mount Elbert Pump-Generator
• 206 MW one 100 MW unit
• and one 106 MW unit
• Pumping requirement 132 MW per unit

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Limited System Capability

• RMR manages the power system on a efficient,
  tightly controlled water system
• Numerous Water and Operational limitations
• Most water schedules change daily
• End-of-day elevation targets are critical
• In several cases, one reservoir serves as the
  afterbay for one plant and the forebay for the
  next

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Plant Characteristics

• Average annual inflow for entire system is less
  than 5,000,000 acre-feet
• Eight plants capable of regulating
• Alcova, Fremont Canyon, Kortes (limited),
  Seminoe, Yellowtail, Estes, Flatiron, Mt Elbert
• Ability to regulate is governed by water
  schedules
• Only plant with day-to-day flexibility is Mount
  Elbert

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Plant Limitations

• Examples of specific plant limitations
• Alcova fluctuations limited to /- 1 foot
• Yellowtail 2 units have rough zones between 14
  and 42 MW
• Fremont Canyon during runoff units are often
  block-loaded at full output and additional river
  flow is bypassed
• Flatiron afterbay active storage is less than 400
  acre-feet

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Other Restrictions

• Flow related
• Estes runoff conditions make generation and
  regulation unpredictable
• Kortes Miracle Mile fishing releases
• Environmental
• Yellowtail Nitrogen super-saturation
• Fremont Canyon ESA minimum releases

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Loveland Area Projects Marketing Plan

• Developed 1981 to 1985
• Implemented October 1, 1989
• Combined Pick-SloanWestern Division and
  Fryingpan-Arkansas Projects
• LAP power is delivered to 180 preference
  customers, including 60 Coops, 85 municipals and
  6 Tribes
• Contracts terminate 9/30/2024

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Determination of Marketable Resource

• Capacity90 Probability of Exceedance for
  Pick-Sloan Generation
• Log-Pearson statistical analysis
• Plus installed capacity of Mt Elbert
• Represents higher level of risk
• Customers agreed to assume risk of difference
  between 90 and 99 probability
• Either purchase or reduced CROD

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Determination of Marketable Resource

• No capacity was set aside for losses or
  regulation
• Assumed that diversity would be adequate
• EnergyLong Term Average
• 40-50 Year averages for most plants
• Minimum generation levels
• Vary by month
• 17 to 32 percent

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Pumped Storage Feature

• Used to supplement LAP firm schedules
• Combined hourly Schedule of Firm and
  Pumped-Storage can not exceed monthly entitlement
• Off-peak Pump-back requirement is 1.41
• Mt Elbert is trapped on XCEL system
• Losses increase payback to about 1.61

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Pumped Storage Energy Account

• Pumped-Storage Energy Account
• Summer 3.9 kwh/kw of CROD
• Winter 4.4 kwh/kw of CROD
• Example Customer with 100 MW CROD can call on
  390 or 440 MWh of energy before having to repay
  it
• Account can not go below 0 or above 100 and must
  be full at season-end

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Resource Available

• Summer (MW)
• April 611
• May 561
• June 664
• July 713
• August 628
• September 607

• Winter (MW)
• October 610
• November 600
• December 654
• January 636
• February 594
• March 538

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Firm Customer Use

• Firm Customers options
• Firm Power
• Pumped Storage Option
• During 2003 Summer Season
• On-peak 7 out of 10 hours customer usage
  consumes all marketed capacity
• Assumes customers schedule minimum during
  off-peak hours

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Total System Use

• In addition to Customer Use RMR must carry
  reserves Reserve Pool requirement is 40 MW
• Western has calculated a need for 75 MW for
  regulation and ramping
• 55 MW is LAP responsibility
• Adding these requirements increases number of
  hours at full capacity to 80 in Summer 2003

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Off-Peak Requirements

• Customers typically schedule minimums or slightly
  above (except daytime Sundays)
• Minimum stream flows must be accommodated
• Mount Elbert is in pump modenot available for
  regulation
• Meeting negative regulation needs is often harder
  than meeting the positive side

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Current Resource Integration Obligations

• Hydro-thermal Integration
• Laramie River Station (1,100 MW)
• since 1981 contract term 2029.
• Regulation Exchange
• RMR provides regulation in exchange for fixed
  price firm energy purchase thru 2008

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Conclusion

• RMR operates a system approaching or exceeding
  maximum capability
• Capacity obligations already assume moderate to
  high level of risk
• Obligations
• Firm and Project use power
• Control Area requirements
• Existing contractual requirements

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Conclusion

• From a resource management perspective
• How much more can RMRs resource handle?
• How does LAP acquire additional resources to meet
  control area needs?
• How should additional costs be allocated?