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<br />, <br /> <br />(9) <br /> <br />The statement that, "No hydropower unit contributes to the <br /> <br />;c .- <br />4). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />national power reserve unless water is available to operate it" Is a profound <br /> <br />utterance, but to produce the maximum, relIable amount of firm energy at Glen <br /> <br />Canyon the highly erratic flows of the Colorado RIver must be regulated over <br /> <br />long periods of time by the storage space in Lake Powell. The manner In which <br /> <br />water is applied to the turbines is almost as important as the water itself in <br /> <br />the production of energy with maximum value. The Glen Canyon powerplant <br /> <br />does have capability for producIng energy, and to the extent It does produce <br /> <br />energy, that capabllity is part of the nation<ll power producing potentIal. The <br /> <br />3.6 billion kilowatt-hours generated at Glen Canyon in fiscal 1971 must have <br /> <br />had some Impact on the nation's power reserve. <br /> <br />The 950 megawatts of capacIty and 3.6 billion kilowatts of power are <br /> <br />signifIcant blocks of capacity and energy compared with the capacIty and energy <br /> <br />of the private and publIc generatIng facilItIes adjacent to the Colorado River <br /> <br />. . <br />Storage Project generators. As a matter of fact, the 950 megawatts of capacity <br /> <br />at Glen Canyon is consIdered a major unit in the PacIfIc southwest and in the <br /> <br />western States power grid. In the utility systems of the Arizona area there Is <br /> <br />a total generating capacIty reserve of 27%. (It should be about 30% where <br /> <br />large thermal units exist.) If the Glen Canyon power plant were to be taken off <br /> <br />the lIne thIs reserve. would drop to about 14%, whIch Is dangerously low. Also, <br /> <br />some of the other plants in the reserve, that now run only part of the time because <br /> <br />they are heavy polluters, would have to be in operation all of the time to assume <br /> <br />the Glen Canyon loads. <br /> <br />15 <br />