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<br />r-vwt:r :1 LeU eU r lit:, fJleU J l
<br />idle for 2112 m0filtms
<br />" . 0' , I . '~, .
<br />('onlinul'd from page 8 Some cOmp.:mlt'$ cilpitalizt'd on
<br />lion from ch~ap hydroeh.'<.1ric, po~ the excess.;to shut down old or ex-
<br />t'r and low demand, said Dennis, pd'lsive pl;mts. Public Service Co.
<br />namharl, a spokt'sm<Hl' 1M' R.<l:tin" of' N('w Mexico shut down ill! oil-
<br />t-:lcdric Power CoopNative, one of ~nd natural-gas-lircd gem'ration in
<br />3lX owners ollhe st3thm. .. Albuquerque aHer Its San Juan 4
<br />The thr('(' units togf.'ther opetaled unit began operating in J982,' said
<br />at only 50 percent of tbelt, total Zimmerman.
<br />('Jpacity in O<:lober and November. The power surplus has bl't"n a
<br />Rarnharl said. I' boon at times to Public Service Co.
<br />Win Curtiss. anoth('r spokl!:sman. and' olher 'utiliti('s that don't have
<br />~id h(' didn't think Basin Electric, a sufHcient genera lion. They"re buy.
<br />bulk wholt'~ler to utilities based in ing powl~r "jn many cases cheaper
<br />B.sman'k, N,D.. I'lild ever looked at than we can produce it oUnlelvt'S,"
<br />the ('(.onomie Impact on customers Martin S<lid.
<br />of l.aramit' ltlv('r's opetatlng lev.'
<br />pIs
<br />v With the downturn in westrrn
<br />New Mexico's mining industry,'
<br />I'ubli,-' $('rvicc of 'New Mexico sold
<br />;tbuul a 30-perccnt interest, Of, 136
<br />megaw:ltts, of its tWQ-yca~.old San
<br />Juan 4 unit 10 a group of California'
<br />cilie~. spokeswoman Mary Zimmer.
<br />man~id_ I!
<br />Tht' sale means the company will
<br />b<> ..ble to reduce its 553 million
<br />rate hike r('Quest, filed last 'July, by
<br />$11 million, :'\he added, I
<br />rro; Af)l}ITlON, New Mcxic~ Pub-
<br />lic Servi{'e Co. is selling most (If the
<br />en('rgy from its share of 1he' first
<br />Pall) Verd(' nuclear power plant In
<br />Arizona, Sl't to bl-gin oJX"ration at
<br />th(' {'nd of this year. The utility, a
<br />IO-perc('nt owner of Palo Verde 1,
<br />"\"III sell 106 megawatu of itS 13()"
<br />me-g;twatts share 10 a Soln Diego
<br />utility,
<br />Zimmerman l\aid the C'Ompany
<br />also is completing a 345-kjlovolt
<br />hne through eastern New ,Mexko
<br />that will allow it to seU power to
<br />Southwest Public Service Co, in
<br />TexJs,
<br />v Colorado Springs is looking for
<br />a buyer after 1987 for some of the
<br />enNgy from its 4-year:old Nixon I
<br />umt. Until then, Public Scrvi~ Co,
<br />of Colorado buys the surplus. and
<br />Martin s,1id the two utilities Oire dis.
<br />('ussing an l'densioo of Lhe coo-
<br />tr;J('t.
<br />"They wanl us to go unlil the, He ehargrd that the utiiJly com,
<br />, panics have not been given crl'-dit
<br />1990~:' he said. f h lh h d
<br />..... But Public Service also is buy- or e angNi ey ave ma e in re-
<br />ln~ thl' full OUlput of the Hawhide spons~ .to declines in demand for
<br />umt, a 250-mt'gawiltt station being electrlclty_
<br />hnished north of Denver by the "Although the forecasts for peak
<br />Plathl Hi\'er Power Authority, demand growth have been de-elining
<br />which i~ owm,-d by four Colorado steadily since 1974, so have the
<br />dill'S plans of utilities for expanding ca-
<br />Wh('n It:Jwhide bel:.ins running pa<'ily, They are being more than
<br />thIS spring, Public ServiC1' will have fl'sponsi\'e," Vincent s.Jjd,
<br />OJ resrrve margin of 22_2 f>Crt't'nt, Colorado Springs' municipal utIli.
<br />Martin s:ud, more than enough for ty originally planned to bUIld a sec-
<br />tht' Yl'ar. ond coal. burning unit at its Nixon
<br />..... Color<ldo-Ute hopes. to 5cII,160 powcr plant for operation in 1987 or
<br />r?r~~walts ~rom ~~e C,ralg 3 umt t~',11988, said Rev Godec, electric pro-
<br />I uhlir SerVICE', 31.(ordlng to spokes duction manager, Bul the 350-
<br />Illan P.wlllath.away. m('gawalt unit has been del..1yed un-
<br />TilE ('OOPERATlVt: .....holrsal. li11990_
<br />cr, owned by 14 rural ell'Ctric dis-
<br />trtbuting eo.opS, has ('ommilted 112
<br />1I1l'gdll.'atts of energy from Craig 3
<br />10 !>horHl'rm salt's, .....hile another
<br />40 megawatts replace a plant .....hile
<br />it is closed and overhauled, If the
<br />Public Service sale is arranged, it
<br />.....ould !t:-;lVe 90 mf'~awatu from
<br />Crdig 3 that Colorado. Ute says
<br />~rowth .....illl"iJ( up in two years.
<br />Officials of utWlirs point out that
<br />not all bf the exeCs!; is wasted.
<br />.
<br />Utilities build power plants by
<br />looking at what the peak demand Public Scrvi('e's second 48:i.
<br />lor power is expt"'Cted to hi'. They meg"'.....alt unit at the l'a\\nel" pow-
<br />nel'.. rClif~\.e when po.....er pldnt~ cr plant near Brush has bt'en de-
<br />~r('; or undergo mainte. layed to 1990 from 1987, both
<br />n~Jl ra Jrom -lOQ lG_.800._occo:lusc..ol Jbe..cQmpan)':.s financiiJl
<br />,n\l~ien rW"l~,,~ .>:c~r, .;.l{~ s~ld,. l~rlp,~~.l~r:, ~'ld_ ~~l~i~e ~,~'~_~ :IY-",i!ah}I-,
<br />.ut.llttw:;. olllslQn Ihttrt'~~ ,'II" j , I ~tj-'.; S4\d;)\',1tl,ln.. 11,'1(, I ,I~~i ,I
<br />
<br />
<br />J' POWER FROM federal hydro.
<br />electric projects was $0 plentiful
<br />last year that Public Ser....ice cus-
<br />tomers paid slightly I('ss for power
<br />in late summer and fall than they
<br />did early in the )'('ar,
<br />The Los Alamos, N.l\t.. municipal
<br />utility and Los Alamos National
<br />Laboratory, a federal weapons reo
<br />search facility, expect to save as
<br />much as 50 percent on power
<br />through a long.term agreement to
<br />bUYI power from lincoln, Neb.'!
<br />share of the Laramie RivN Station
<br />near Wheatland, Wyo.
<br />That will allow them to reduce
<br />purchases from New Mexico Public
<br />Service once a transmission route is
<br />arranged lo northern New Mexico,
<br />probably in a year or so, according
<br />to city utility official Chris Ortega
<br />
<br />Power from the Laramie River
<br />Station is expected to cost about 4,4
<br />cents .1 kilowatt hour in 1987, ex.
<br />C'luding transportation costs. New
<br />Mexico Public Service's power
<br />probably will cost 7 cenls by then,
<br />Orttga said. '
<br />
<br />BLAI:">JE VINCENT JR.. an engi.
<br />neering analyst with the North
<br />American Electric Reliability
<br />Council, a 16.year-old U,S. and Ca.
<br />nadian industry organil.alion, said
<br />the ex('ess "is not as much as people
<br />think. We're not in lroubl(' by any
<br />means."
<br />
<br />"TilE llSAGE in Colorado
<br />Springs is lower than we ('xpeclcd
<br />in the laic 1970s for surf'," Godet,
<br />salt!. "But we're prcdictinR ...cry
<br />healthy growth fur the Culurado
<br />Springs area in the next t'ight to 10
<br />years,"
<br />
<br />The Colorado Public Utiliti('s
<br />Commission, however, bclic\'es the
<br />l'ity's estimates are high_ The PVC
<br />has no aUlhority ov('r munici~ll
<br />utilities,
<br />
<br />Illl? I
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