On the Grid

Last week we talked about a new power plant that won’t be built in El Paso County. Thanks to Fountain Utilities Director, Larry Patterson, I now have a copy of the Western Region Power Grid. Pretty impressive actually. Hydroelectric power generated from the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in Oregon can get to us, as well as power from the Hoover Dam in Arizona or a coal fired plant in Wyoming or Nebraska.

For those of us who are not electrical engineers, it helps to think of electricity as water and the power lines as pipes. While you can fill a very large water system from a small source, if you want to use that water or have some leakage (which also happens with electricity) you need more water and it can be put in the system at any location, and as long as the pipe remains full can be taken out anywhere. Fort Carson is buying renewable energy from the west coast and while those electrons may never power a light bulb on Fort Carson, they are in the system and it means less coal is being burned somewhere else to generate electricity.

What the grid shows is a lack of generating facilities here on the eastern edge of the grid, meaning our supply is more at risk than those who have close and multiple generating plants. There are several large municipalities in the region that generate power and while they are on the grid they purchase more than they sell.

I expect renewable sources like wind to be a larger player in our future electrical generation. In fact, we have two companies testing portions of eastern El Paso County and the neighboring counties for possible wind mill locations. I also understand that while solar generation is not ready for prime time it is making great strides, and a plant is being proposed for the San Louis Valley.

The coal we have in Colorado and Wyoming is much cleaner burning, not as clean as natural gas which is not as clean as wind, but it is still cheaper. Two new coal fired plants are planned in western Kansas but have not yet cleared all the regulatory hurdles. A new power transmission line is proposed along the southern and then eastern boundary of the county to connect two large substations, and we could still see a power plant of some sort either in this county or in one of the neighboring counties in the next several years as demand is expected to outstrip supply in the next 25 years.

      This may seem a little out of the job description of a county commissioner, but input from the local level can have significant impact on regional issues, especially if you get there early and often.

CONTACT THE WRITER • HISEY4CD4@MSN.COM

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