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<br />March 1998 <br /> <br />Western Area Power Administration <br /> <br />3-7 <br /> <br /> <br />Policy Issues and Assumptions <br /> <br />Section 3 <br /> <br />period. All generating units of Hoover Powerplant are operationally integrated with each <br />other,and also with the Parker-Davis Project, to form the Desert Southwest Region. <br /> <br />3.3.2.2 INTEGRATION MECHANISMS <br /> <br />True project integration would involve creating one common load-control area, such .that all <br />projects would be operated and dispatched to serve the total combined loads of the <br />contractors. Such operation would maximize water-generation efficiency and take <br />advantage of the diversity in loads and operating constraints. However, for diverse systems <br />to be successfully integrated into one load-control area and operated for maximum overall <br />benefits, the. contractual rights of existing contractors, transmission constraints or required <br />transmission additions, and other institutional constraints must be considered. Although <br />integration may improve overall system efficiency, reconciling the different contractual <br />requirements could prove difficult. Providing compensation for benefits provided or lost <br />would be complex. Quantifying the benefits and losses would likely require complex <br />modeling, along with new coordination agreements and contractual amendments. <br /> <br />Project integration must also consider transmission constraints and losses, whether physical <br />or contractual. While integration could increase the efficiency of generation dispatch, the <br />efficiency gains could be significantly reduced or negated by transmission losses and <br />transmission costs. True system integration must also consider whether constructing new <br />transmission and dispatch facilities would .be required. The costs of any new construction <br />would then need to be considered in determining the overall cost-benefit and feasibility of <br />integration. <br /> <br />Integration could also be at least partially implemented by establishing formal, long-term <br />exchange agreements, which would allow projects in different control areas to more <br />efficiently take advantage of generation and load diversity and to enhance the ability to <br />trade or sell power between projects. Such agreements could also include purchase. <br />exchange, or sharing of reserves, and could be implemented, subject to transmission <br />availability, to maximize the mutually beneficial exchange of power. <br /> <br />3.3.2.3 INTEGRATION ISSUES <br /> <br />Prior studies indicate that integrating the Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover) and GCD may <br />be technically feasible. However, benefits have not been quantified as the studies have <br />generally been qualitative and primarily issue oriented. The following items have been <br />identified in previous studies as potential integration issues: <br /> <br />· While integration would likely increase overall system efficiency, it is not clear <br />whether the integration would increase finn on-peak capacity, or what the <br />magnitude of any such benefits might be to SLCNIP or to Western contractors <br />in total. <br /> <br />· Hoover power is fully committed under current contracts extending until 2017. <br />