Power shortage response creating transmission woes

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Power shortage response creating transmission woes Guest column

Wendell J. Satre - Special to The Spokesman-Review

As a participant in this region's energy scene for more than 40 years, I'd like to add my perspective on the recent energy crisis and an issue that is equally significant and deserving of attention as the region seeks potential energy solutions.

The issue of adequate and reliable transmission is critical and is the most underreported aspect of the energy debate now dominating much of the region's media. And many of the crisis-driven actions of late, by the Bonneville Power Administration and others, are sure to become prime examples of the laws of unintended consequences.

The region's electric power system is an intricate machine that operates according to the laws of physics. These laws are unforgiving and immutable, in that loads and resources always must be in balance or the regional power system can become unstable, and blackouts may occur. The practical implication of this law is that loads drive the power system because electrical demand determines power generation.

Because a large amount of the region's generation could not be located next to load centers, a high voltage transmission system was developed. This allows generation to be located where it is most economic while serving loads at considerable distances. The region's electric power transmission network allows coal plants in eastern Montana to serve load centers in the Puget Sound and Portland areas, and the integration of the hydropower generation on the Columbia, Snake, Clark Fork and other rivers with loads throughout the region. The end result is an integrated network of loads, transmission and generation that must remain in balance or the system will not function.

However, the crisis management actions being taken by BPA and others to reduce loads and add emergency generation can serve to unbalance the region's power system. Reducing major industrial loads to match current generation is having unintended consequences on the regional transmission system. For example, the shutdown of loads on the east side of the state means more power must move through Spokane to reach loads on the West Side. The unintended result is that the increased power flows are overloading east-to-west transmission. This creates a transmission constraint that prevents critically needed generation on the east side of the region from reaching loads on the west side. The inability to reconcile load reductions with expedient transmission is the kind of planning mistake that could put the transmission grid in jeopardy. And, of course, that could lead to further rate increases throughout the region.

The short-term crisis management action by BPA in seeking curtailments to meet the current energy crisis has reduced BPA's total electric demand, but at the expense of overloading existing transmission lines and preventing the flow of badly needed energy to the Puget Sound area. Thus, in an attempt to manage the current crisis by doing what seems to make short-run sense, a transmission bottleneck is being created that further reduces the availability of generation to maintain system reliability in the major regional load centers west of the Cascades.

The east-west transmission corridor is not the only place this is happening. There are problems with transmission between the U.S. and Canada that connects B.C. Hydro to BPA in the northern Puget Sound area. These transmission facilities now are being taxed severely due to load reductions at industrial facilities in north Puget Sound.

BPA has asked Congress for a $2 billion increase in borrowing authority for transmission construction and upgrades. The Senate has included the increase in its appropriations budget package but with stipulations that require BPA to receive annual approval for the money it will spend. There is no question that the regional transmission system must be improved. But how does that fit with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent order to create regional transmission organizations? What is BPA's plan to effectively use the funds? What facilities are planned and on what schedule? Will the concern about east-west transmission be addressed? BPA owes it to the region to lay out its proposals.

As with the current energy shortages, it is difficult to maintain a long-term view while a crisis looms. But it would be unfortunate and inexcusable if crisis actions were to become, by default, the region's long-term plan. A comprehensive review is needed to address the stresses imposed on the electric power industry by the actions taken to manage the current power crisis.

The issue of transmission adequacy should be given the same importance and attention as new generation. Collectively, these actions should be better aligned so that, in the long run, electric power is not only available but also deliverable.

If there is anything the current energy crisis has taught us, it should be that sacrificing long-term concerns for the sake of near-term expediency is unacceptable. If we build generation and can't transmit it, what have we gained? If we close industries and destroy the region's economic vitality, what have we gained?

Balance and a concern for how individual decisions affect everyone in the region have always served us well. That balance and concern is more important now than ever before.

Wendell J. Satre is retired chairman and CEO of The Washington Water Power Co., now known as Avista.

http://205.235.133.31/news-story.asp?date=081301&ID=s1006386&cat=section.spokane

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 14, 2001


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