WSP11067

• File Number: 8273.100
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control - Federal Agencies - Bureau of Reclamation
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 9/1/1981
• Author: BOR
• Title: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Improvement Project - Saline Water Use and Disposal Opportunities - Special Report September 1981
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Significant plant delays being reported are attributed to required
regulatory approvals, litigation, environmental studies, scarcity
of suitable and acceptable plant sites, financial constraints due
to lack of timely rate relief, and shortages of skilled labor.
The inability to place new plants in service as planned will
reduce reliability in some areas and could result in power supply
shortages.

In a closer look at the situation related to the Colorado River Basin,
table 10 provides a more specific summary of near-term projected power-
plant additions and coal requirements for 1981-1990.

Table 10. - Summary of 1981-1990 generation additions and
coal requirements for select areas [5]

1981-1990

Rocky
Mountain
Power Area II

Arizona-
New Mexico
Power Are a II I

California-
Nevada
Power Area IV

Total
three
areas

Steam, coal-fired
power plant
additional
capacity

Coal requirement
(under adverse
hydro condi-
tions)
(1,000 tons/ yr)

4,350 MW

3,801 MW

7,250 MW

15,401 MW

15,302

5,725

12,918

33,945

For the three power areas (II, III, IV) comprlslng the Colorado River
Basin States, the total additional capacity of 15,401 megawatts will
require about 185,000 acre-feet of water for cooling (1,000 MW =
12,000 acre-ft/yr) in the next lO-year period. Specific plant sites in
or adjacent to the Basin are listed in table 6. The total new coal
requirement over the same period which will require transportation in
some form to powerplants in the areas of concern totals about 34 million
tons per year, Using WSCC preliminary estimates of load growth in the
1990' s decade, additional installed capacity of approximately 17,000
megawatts and a need for 60 million tons of coal are projected for the
1990-2000 period,

In March 1980, the Congress enacted a new program to reduce utilities'
oil and gas consumption. The "Utility Oil Back-Out" program seeks
reduction of 1 million barrels per day (oil equivalent) by 1990. The
program would prohibit oil and gas use in specific powerplants and
provide Federal funds for alternative fuels such as coal, Under the
program, utilities would submit fuel displacement plans to their State
regulatory authorities and DOE (Department of Energy). After PUblic

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