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<br />W <br />"-l <br />,.r;:.. <br />U1 <br /> <br />1. Planned and Potential Energy Development <br /> <br />A great many plans have been made to construct energy projects in the <br />Colorado River Basin by the year 2000. Some of the p1 ants proposed for <br />construction are coal-fired powerplants, synfuel plants (oil shale, tar <br />sands, and coal gasification), and nuclear-powered thermal electric <br />generating plants. The following map (fig. 3) identifies p1annedl <br />potential energy developments. Tables 6, 7, and 8 describe the loca- <br />tion, type of energy, use, etc., by map site number. <br /> <br />The WSCC's (Western Systems Coordinating Council's) 1981 Report [5,6,7] <br />provides an authoritative summary of existing, planned, and conceptual <br />expans ion project ions for powerp 1 ant capacity and related coal require- <br />ments in the Western States. The Colorado River Basin and related areas <br />of inte,rest generally fall within the broad WSCC Regional Area and even <br />more clpsely to three of the major reporting areas within WSCC Rocky <br />Mountain, Arizona-New Mexico, and California-Nevada power pools (see <br />fig. 4). <br /> <br />~-~-;~ <br /> <br />As shown in table 9, summarizing existing and projected powerp1ant capacity <br />and generation mix by percentage, some general trends can be hi9hlighted: <br /> <br />In the next 1D years, coal-fired powerplants dominate the mix of <br />generation additions for the WSCC study area. <br /> <br />Over the conceptual 20-year planning horizon, fossil-fuel power- <br />plant capacity continues to expand while nuclear facilities decline <br />as a percentage of the mix. <br /> <br />In the WSCC area, coal requirements for power generation will <br />nearly double during the next 10 years as the need for coal is <br />projected to increase from 83 million tons in 1981 to 153 million <br />tons in 1990. An additional 70 million tons per year could be <br />associated with the conceptual additions listed for the 1990-2000 <br />time frame. <br /> <br />In general, the shift to coal from nuclear reflects high costs <br />and difficulty in licensing and constructing nuclear facilities. <br />The present concern regarding the safety of nuclear generation <br />facilities, the inability to finance, construct, and obtain operat- <br />ing licenses for nuclear powerplants are limiting development. <br /> <br />The future demands for electricity are difficult to project due to <br />the effects of energy conservation, uncertain economic conditions, <br />fuels substitutions, and changing energy cost relationships. The 1981 <br />load forecasts for the WSCC 10-year period are lower than estimated a <br />year ago, thus reducing but not eliminating the adverse impact of <br />delays associated with construction of new generating facilities. <br /> <br />IV-7 <br />