Our Marching Orders: Affordable Power

May 6, 2011

After a visit to Washington, D.C., in May, we were impressed by the long-rang planning and precision of our nation’s military. But no matter how prepared they might be, the military can’t make a move without marching orders from the top.

It reminds me of the bind electric cooperatives are in right now. We excel at long-range planning—most of the power you use today was designed three or four decades ago. We stand at the ready with plans for new infrastructure, power plants and innovative technologies to provide electricity for the next 30 years. But there’s a problem—we’re waiting on marching orders from our nation’s leaders.

We were proud to join thousands of electric cooperative representatives in our nation’s capital this spring. We told our elected officials that now more than ever we need to know the rules for power generation—and we need to know now. Rolling blackouts in Texas earlier this year reminded all of us that electricity must be used as quickly as it’s produced; we don’t have the technology yet to store large amounts of power to fall back on when resources like wind turbines don’t work.

Current construction of electric generation facilities by our two cooperative wholesale suppliers, Golden Spread Electric Cooperative and Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, were planned years ago and are just now becoming a reality. Golden Spread’s Antelope Generating Station near Abernathy will go on line in the next couple of months, and the Golden Spread Panhandle Wind Ranch near Wildorado will follow later this year.

Brazos’ Jack County II generating plant will go online this summer and Sandy Creek Generating Station will be available next year.

All four plants are different in their design and fuel used for generation. Antelope is a natural gas fired quick starting design that utilizes 18 reciprocating engines each equipped with a separate generator.

Panhandle Wind Ranch is Golden Spread’s first effort at owning a wind generation project and is built at a location that promises the most efficient wind characteristics in Texas. Because the wind generation cannot be depended on to furnish continuous output, the Antelope facility will serve as a backup for the capacity when low wind conditions do not allow power to flow to our members otherwise.

Jack II is a conventional combined cycle natural gas fired plant that utilizes two turbine generators and one steam turbine for its power production.

Of the four plants, Sandy Creek, a joint effort by Brazos and several other entities, will take the longest to complete since it is a western coal powered facility. Besides the extensive construction schedule, environmental regulation compliance adds significant time to the schedule. Even though the plant was permitted based on the rules in place at the time of planning, during construction several environmental roadblocks have come up adding to the time and cost of construction.

Each of these projects took extensive planning and financing efforts in order to cost-effectively meet our members’ needs into the future, but we must know the rules to keep our proactive pace.

For our children and grandchildren’s sake, we need to make some tough decisions soon—and we need to get them right.

With a flurry of proposed regulations being discussed for power plants (and more to come), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been following their own set of marching orders and deadlines set by the courts. However, what the final regulations will look like remains unclear. Cooperatives need to know the rules—our marching orders—for power generation. Until the government provides more certainty, we can’t enact our plans for the next three decades. As our appetite for electricity grows and threatens to outstrip our nation’s generation capacity, we need to build more power plants. But what type of facilities should they be that will make the most sense financially?

South Plains Electric Cooperative’s mission was set by you, our members, nearly 75 years ago. You charged us to provide safe, reliable and affordable power. Where this power comes from impacts a sizable portion of your electric bill—80 percent of each dollar you pay us goes to buying wholesale power. Bucket trucks, poles and wires, right-of-way trimming, payroll and other operating expenses are covered by the rest.

Although expensive, power plants and expanded transmission systems are an investment in a better future for all of us. We’ll keep our ultimate mission at the forefront of our efforts as we work with Congress to get our marching orders and keep the lights on for the next 30 years. It’s one more way we’re looking out for you.

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