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<br /> <br />SUMMARY <br /> <br />o <br />f....J <br /> <br />Electric power development in the Lower Colorado Region began in <br />1888, when the Arizona Public Service Company completed its first <br />thermal-electric plant with a capacity of 50 kilowatts to serve the <br />City of Phoenix. Since that time, power loads of the region have <br />grown steadily, particularly, during and following World War II. , <br />By 1965 , the peak and energy demands of the region reached 2,700mega- <br />watts (m~)and 13,300 million kilowatt-hours, respectively. These <br />needs were chiefly met by existing thermal and hydro plants located <br />in the region. However, a sizable amount of power was imported <br />from the Four Corners and Glen Canyon plants in the Upper Colorado <br />Region. <br /> <br /> <br />..... <br />~ <br />(..,.1 <br />o <br /> <br />It is expected that by 1980 the region will need 8,300 mw, lIlO1'e <br />than two times the estimated 1970 demand of 3,900 mw. The region's <br />existing power plants and imports. plus new imports from mine-mouth <br />plants in the Upper Colorado Region, could meet nearly all of this <br />demand. The remainder coul.d be met by the installation of pumped- <br />storage hydroelectric plants, gas-turbine-driven generating units, <br />and fossil-fueled thermal-electric plants. <br /> <br />The Lower Colorado Region will have an estimated peak demand of <br />35.800 mw by the year 2000, more than nine times the 1970 demand. <br />Early in the 1980-2000 periOd, the region could begin developing <br />nuclear-fueled steam-electric plants, and additional fossil-fueled <br />steam-electric and pumped-storage plants. These plants, together <br />with new base-load imports from mine-mouth thermal-electric plants <br />in the Upper Colorado Region, could meet the region's power needs <br />in the year 2000. <br /> <br />By the year 2020, the region's peak demand is expected to reach <br />almost 110,000 mw, nearly 30 times the 1970 demand. Most of this <br />demand coul.d be met by the region's nuclear-fired and fossil-fueled <br />thermal-electric and pumped-storage plants. The remainder could <br />come from mine-mouth power plants in the Upper Colorado Region, and <br />from nuclear power and desalination plants located outside of the <br />region. <br /> <br />The additional generating capacity to be located in the region <br />would increase the region's annual consumptive water use for power <br />purposes from almost 10,000 acre-feet in 1965 to about 435.000 <br />acre-feet in 2020. Land requirements for power plants in the region <br />would increase from 3,000 acres in the 1966-1980 periOd to more than <br />13,000 acres in the 2001-2020 period. <br />