7416

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7416
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Flaming Gorge Aspinall Joint Operations Study December, 15, 1988-Draft.
• USFW Year: 1988.
• USFW - Doc Type: Denver, Colorado.
• Copyright Material: NO

D. POWER GENERATION AND MRKETING
Flaming Gorge and the Aspinall Unit are tied into an electrical
grid which stretches across most of the western third of the
nation. The production of power within the Colorado Basin portion
of the grid is controlled by Western. Western is responsible for
the Federal electric power marketing and transmission function in
15 central and western States. Western sells power to
cooperatives, municipalities, and various electrical utilities.
Western schedules and controls hourly reservoir operations (most
operations are remotely controlled) from its offices in Montrose,
Colorado.
Monthly Operations
The Bureau informs Western on a monthly basis as to the amount of
water in all Project reservoirs which can be released. Western
then schedules daily releases to maximize revenues and to balance
load on the transmission grid. Peak electrical demand is spread
across the summer air conditioning load and the winter heating
season. Peak summer months are June, July, and August with winter
peaks in January, February, and March. These general demand
patterns are refined on a yearly basis to reflect changes in the
general climate and runoff forecasts.
Section 7 of the Project Act directs the Secretary of the Interior
to operate Project dams to produce the greatest practicable amount
of capacity and energy that can be sold at firm power rates (fixed
rates). However, the Act specifies power generation and other
uses to be incidental to the primary project purposes of water
conservation, flow regulation and the control of floods. Within
these constraints, energy and capacity available from project
facilities have been placed under long-term contract subject to
provisions of the initial General Power Marketing Criteria as
revised February 6, 1984. These criteria identified the market
area, service seasons, classes of service, and power available for
allocation. In addition, criteria were established for the
contractual obligations of the purchasers for the scheduling,
accounting, and receipt of delivery of capacity and energy by
Western.
The following five classes of service were established by the
Marketing Criteria:
(1) Long-term firm power with associated energy.
(capacity and use of power)
(2) Short-term (seasonal or monthly) firm power with associated
energy. (short term capacity and use of power)
(3) Long-term seasonal or monthly peaking power without energy.
(standby capacity only)
(4) Short-term seasonal or monthly peaking power without energy
(stand by capacity only).
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