ImpactTaskForceReport2002

• Title: Impact Task Force Drought Assessment and Recommendations
• Date: 5/1/2002
• Description: Drought Assessment Report
• Basin: Statewide
• Drought Mitigation - Doc Type: Reports

Energy Loss Recommendations
Joe Lambert, Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation
BACKGROUND:
Colorado's electrical energy is primarily derived from coal -fired plants; however, some portion of this
energy (about 4% of usage) comes from hydroelectric sources. The energy loss impact task force,
consisting of representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, Western Area Power Administration
( "Western"), Colorado PUC, Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation,
Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad, Tri -State Generation and Transmission, and Xcel Energy met
on 29 April, 2002, to discuss the impact of the drought on:
a) hydroelectric power capacity;
b) conventional power plant cooling water;
c) integrity of gas and electric transmission lines; and
d) other energy related consequences of the drought.
EMERGENCY MEASURES:
There are no currently identified impending emergencies in the area of energy loss.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATIONS MEASURES:
Two avenues for mitigation of energy risk (mostly assumed to be consequent to wildfires) should be
pursued. These consist of the identification of hijah risk nhysical assets and the establishment of
critical communications
a) High risk assets. Many transmission lines were built to decades -old design standards.
Identifying these assets and forming, with the responsible agencies, plans to clear and modernize
their surroundings will prevent fire - induced invoking unnecessary backup lines. Many of these
lines are not near the currently actively protected urban- wildland interface. In fact, current
commitments and this year's heavy seasonal restrictions, particularly in the National Forests,
cause this to be a long term rather than immediate amelioration process.
b) Critical Communications. A database should be formed and shared among the county sheriffs'
departments, the county emergency planning arms, appropriate state, federal, and utility
personnel. One lesson learned from last year's fires in New Mexico was the need to have close
interaction between utility personnel and emergency workers. The example at hand was the
difficulty experienced by utility personnel in accessing and restoring power to fuel fire trucks in
order to operate water pumps and to perform similar critical duties. The City of Los Alamos
apparently ran out of water due to the consequent inability to refill its water storage facilities. In
the Ruidoso fire, the Mescalero Apache tribe and the city of Ruidoso nearly lost their single
power supply line, in part due to flammable vegetation surrounding the line. Applying these
lessons here in Colorado, before the occurrence of any fire or other emergency, could avoid
serious consequences during a crisis for local emergency personnel and appropriate state and
federal agencies. Utility personnel should have established points of contact in the emergency
areas of each county to facilitate access, assessment, and restoration of critical utility assets.
These processes should be planned rather then learned in the dynamic of a multi jurisdictional
fire event.