Wind Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 46)

T ransmission A Look at Regional Entities The Southwest Power Pool and the X Plan transmisison system for all customers. Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is one of • Reliability Coordination—monitors nine Regional Transmission Organizapower flow through the SPP footprint. tions (RTOs) mandated by the Federal • Regional Scheduling—Ensures the Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) amount of power sent is coordinated to ensure reliable supplies of power, with the power received. adequate transmission infrastructure, • Market Operations—monitors and competitive wholesale prices of resource/load balance to ensure that electricity. less expensive power is used to serve It is also one of eight North American load before expensive power, as long as Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) system reliability is met. regional entities. As an RTO, SPP does not own the power grid. They independently operate the grid minute-by-minute to ensure that power gets to customers and to eliminate power shortages. SPP covers a geographic area of 255,000 square miles and has members in eight states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. SPP manages transmission in seven of these states. SPP’s footprint includes 17 balancing authorities and 52,301 miles of transmission lines. The entity’s 50 members serve more than 4.5 million customers. SPP’s membership consists of: Diagram of the X Plan provided by the • 12 investor-owned utilities Southwest Power Pool. • 8 municipal systems • 11 generation and transmission • Transmission Expansion Plancooperatives ning—seeks to identify system limita• 2 state authorities tions and develop transmission up• 3 independent power producers grades for increased capacity. • 11 power marketers • Contract Services—provides • 1 contract participant reliability coordination, tariff administra• 2 independent transmission tion and scheduling for non-members on companies. a contract basis. SPP’s primary services to their members and customers include: • Tariff Administration—SPP independently administers the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT), ensuring fair and open access to the 48 X-Plan X-Plan The SPP region’s total demand for electricity in 2007 was 43,007 MW. Total electricity generation capacity was approximately 50,000 MW in 2007, creating a surplus of almost 7,000 MW. As wind generation capacity in the region increases in response to greater demand for renewable generation resources, SPP has recognized the need for increased transmission capacity in order to move wind generated power from its source in the central and south plains out to non-windy parts of the region as well as to other regional entities. SPP is currently studying an Extra High Voltage (EHV) Transmission Overlay Project which considers regional transmission needs to the year 2026 and beyond. According to Emily Pennel, SPP communications manager, the EHV Overlay Project is partially in response to FERC’s directive to RTOs to coordinate and interconnect their systems. The plan may include the use of a 345 kV, 500 kV, and 765 kV or higher transmission system to overlay the SPP footprint. Within the broader EHV Overlay Project is a component of the expansion known as the X Plan. The X plan has been designed to build wind generation capacity in the Central and South Plains area in the shape of an “x”. According to the plan, the hub of the X would be near Mooreland, OK with connections to Spearville and Wichita in Kansas, and Amarillo/Lubbock, TX and Oklahoma City, OK. Pennel says that for reliability base plan upgrades, all SPP rate payers pay 1/3 of the costs, and zonal beneficiaries pay 2/3. OG&E as well as other interested companies have submitted Letters of Commitment proposing to build parts of the new transmission lines. WIND TODA Y First Quarter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wind Today - Q1 2008

Wind Today - Q1 2008 Contents Windpower 2008 U.S. Energy Map Canada Energy Map Global Report Options and Expectations for O&M Service Providers O&M Safety Issues for Wind Farms Guanting Wind Farm to Power 2008 Olympics Operating Economics of Wind Farms Long-Term Operating Costs Post-Warranty Energy Bill Incentives May Have Another Chance Wind Gears: A Closer Look at the Drive Train Elk River Wind Farm Should Lightning Be A Concern For Wind Farms? Interview: Steve Sawyer Zephyr Powers Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort WT News: United States & Canada Interview: Willett Kempton Centennial Wind Energy WT Transmission: Southwest Power Pool EPA's Top 25 Wind Power Projects 2008 RPS Update Mark Scher, MSE Power Systems Richard Legault, Helimax Second Wind Henkels & McCoy NRG Systems Apterra Technologies, Inc. Wind Resource Maps: Michigan and New York Calendar Glossary Product Surveys Ad Index

Wind Today - Q1 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.