The House of Power and Light

• Year: 2006
• Title: The House of Power and Light
• Author: Colorado River Energy Distributors Association
• Description: Hydroelectric Power in the Upper Colorado River Basin
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

The CRSP power features include generators, IflorroViloint D&N.It courtesy of thd'Burbau of Reclamation
substations, and transmission lines. So long as '
r.
operations do not "affect or interfere with" the interstate
water compacts, or contracts there under, Congress
mandated that these water projects "produce the greatest
practicable amount of power and energy that can be sold
at firm power and energy rates." 43 U.S.C. § 620(f).
Glen Canyon Dam, located near Page, Arizona, ,
is the largest of the CRSP projects. Lake Powell, behind
Glen Canyon Dam, stores 26,215,000 acre -feet of water 1 •,
when full. Lake Powell is not only a recreational gem in
the desert; it provides vital insurance against drought.
More than 25 million people in seven states now rely upon
water from Lake Powell for survival. Completed in 1963, '
A
Glen Canyon has eight generators for a total of about o
1300 MW, which is more than 70% of total CRSP i
generation. It would take up to 3.5 million tons of coal, orei,•
11 million barrels of oil, to generate the same amount of
power from Glen Canyon Dam.
Flaming Gorge Dam, located near Vernal, Utah, is on the Green River, a major tributary of
the Colorado River. Flaming Gorge has three units with a capacity of about 152 MW. Navajo
reservoir in northwest New Mexico and southwest Colorado has a capacity of 547 MW. The
Aspinall units include three re- regulating reservoirs and generating plants along the Gunnison River near Gunnison, Colorado. These
re- regulating reservoirs can ramp up and down quickly to meet changing
demands with little effect on stream flows. They have a total capacity of 275
MW. Blue Mesa is the first dam on the river and has two units producing about
97 MW. Morrow Point is the second dam in the series and consists of two
generators producing a total of 146 MW. Crystal is the final dam and has one 32
' MW generator.
These and other participating
projects use CRSP revenues from the
Upper Colorado River Basin Fund to
help repay project costs that are beyond
i the ability of irrigators to repay. Guided
. „ by the CRSP Act and the complex
f j bundle of laws that govern water and
power in the Colorado River Basin (the
•
Law of the River), the Bureau of
Reclamation operates CRSP reservoirs
on a monthly and yearly basis for water
storage and power production, while
Western guides generation and sells
power on a daily and hourly basis.
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