Energy, Utilities & Water  February 16, 2021

PRPA: Cold snap accentuates importance of energy networks

FORT COLLINS — Platte River Power Authority’s call to action was urgent and unusual for the wholesale electrical power supplier in Northern Colorado, known for its reliability. Yet it wasn’t unusual in the central United States as frigid temperatures gripped the region from International Falls, Minnesota, to the Rio Grande of Texas.

PRPA put out a call on Sunday, asking consumers to reduce their power consumption because of a cascading series of events that threatened the power supplier’s ability to meet anticipated demand as residents of the region cranked up space heaters and thermostats to ward off the chill.

Consumers did reduce consumption by about 10 megawatts, said Steve Roalstad, spokesman for PRPA. That was enough, coupled with purchased power from neighboring utilities, to avoid any forced shutdowns of parts of the network. The demand at the time was about 500 megawatts, he said.

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No one lost power resulting from demand on the system in the PRPA territory that includes Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Estes Park. In fact, no one lost power in Colorado, although there were reports of isolated outages that may have resulted from cold-related failure of electrical components. 

That wasn’t the case in Texas, however, which operates on its own grid not dependent nor reliant upon power generated in neighboring states. An estimated 4.2 million homes were without power in Texas.

The energy emergency throughout Colorado and the rest of middle America was sparked by a spike in demand for natural gas, which often is used to reduce electrical energy consumption peaks; during extreme cold or heat, natural gas turbines generate a larger share of electricity.

“We may generate 1% or 2% of our energy over the course of a year from natural gas,” Roalstad told BizWest. PRPA generates half or more of its energy from coal-fired power plants at Rawhide power plant north of Fort Collins or at the two (of three) coal-fired plants at Craig, Colorado, where PRPA has partial ownership. 

In recent years, PRPA has shifted more of its energy load to renewable sources, and it plans to reach 100% non-carbon generation by 2030 if renewable technology continues to advance, Roalstad said.

That goal hasn’t changed, he said. “We still think we can achieve that, and we will not sacrifice system reliability or cost to achieve our environmental goals,” he said.

“We have to factor situations like this into consideration. It is a rare event,” he said.

PRPA’s unusual call for consumption reductions came when Xcel Energy, which provides PRPA with natural gas, cut off its supply. During times of intense market pressure for gas, Xcel prioritizes home heating over supplying electrical generators.

Xcel draws its gas from Colorado Interstate Gas Co. LLC, which provides interstate transmission. That gas grid, in turn, is part of the Louisiana Henry Hub, which supplies multiple natural gas networks in many states throughout the nation.

Meanwhile, the intense cold at PRPA’s wind farms in Wyoming forced operators to shut them down. When ice builds on the windmill blades, it creates an imbalance that can damage the turbines, Roalstad said. As it turned out, the wind wasn’t blowing there anyway, so wind farm shutdowns had little impact.

Solar resources were also of little to no help because the solar panels were covered with snow. The cold and limited sunshine kept the snow from melting.

Roalstad said that left the utility with two alternatives, and it used both. It bought power from neighboring utilities that might have had some to spare, and it asked consumers to reduce use.

PRPA currently has access to excess power through the Joint Dispatch Authority operated by Xcel Energy. In addition to Xcel, Colorado Springs Utilities and Black Hills Corp., are part of the authority. All of those were also stressed during the Valentine’s weekend.

The solution to situations such as this past weekend and what could occur in future years as PRPA and other utilities shut down coal-fired plants will be tapping into larger networks. 

Next year, PRPA will become part of the Western Energy Imbalance Market, operated by the California Independent Operator. Then, when resources in one region are stressed, power can be brought in from unaffected areas.

“Market participation is critical to our plans,” he said.

Roalstad said that the utility is “back to normal” today. Wind energy from Wyoming is again available for distribution in Colorado. Excel lifted its curtailment so that gas turbines can be put back on line if needed.

 © 2021 BizWest Media LLC

FORT COLLINS — Platte River Power Authority’s call to action was urgent and unusual for the wholesale electrical power supplier in Northern Colorado, known for its reliability. Yet it wasn’t unusual in the central United States as frigid temperatures gripped the region from International Falls, Minnesota, to the Rio Grande of Texas.

PRPA put out a call on Sunday, asking consumers to reduce their power consumption because of a cascading series of events that threatened the power supplier’s ability to meet anticipated demand as residents of the region cranked up space heaters and thermostats to ward off the chill.

Consumers did reduce…

Ken Amundson
Ken Amundson is managing editor of BizWest. He has lived in Loveland and reported on issues in the region since 1987. Prior to Colorado, he reported and edited for news organizations in Minnesota and Iowa. He's a parent of two and grandparent of four, all of whom make their homes on the Front Range. A news junkie at heart, he also enjoys competitive sports, especially the Rapids.
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