POWER March 2014 - 67

INDUSTRY TRENDS
Facing Challenges from Natural
Disasters to Customers as Generators
In the process of developing both familiar and new conference tracks and sessions for
ELECTRIC POWER 2014, Event Content Director David Wagman has identified
a number of current and emerging trends. Here he offers his take on the issues
that will be hot topics this April in New Orleans and long after.
David Wagman
T
he 16th annual ELECTRIC POWER
Conference & Exhibition takes place in
New Orleans this year, and it's a fitting
place to be discussing the many persistent
and new challenges facing the power generation
industry. Entergy Corp. is the host utility,
and its experience is indicative of several
trends across the power sector.
As with other new U.S. baseload capacity,
gas is playing the lead role for Entergy, whose
commitment to natural gas (with fuel oil as a
backup) is evident at its 550-MW Ninemile
Point Unit 6 plant. (The plant will be open
for a tour by ELECTRIC POWER attendees
on Mar. 31.) The combined cycle gas turbine
unit is under construction a short distance
from downtown New Orleans and will add
economical and efficient gas-fired capacity
to the generating mix serving southeast Louisiana.
The region spans an area from east of
metropolitan Baton Rouge to the Mississippi
state line and south to the Gulf of Mexico,
including New Orleans. By 2015, the region
will have more than 6,000 MW of demand.
Ninemile Unit 6 is on track to enter commercial
service by mid-2015 with enough capacity
to replace the loss of Ninemile Units 1 and 2.
Those units entered service in the early 1950s
and have been deactivated. Ninemile Unit
6 (Figure 1) is designed to allow it to adjust
output as a load-following plant or operate as
a baseload plant if required. The unit will use
natural gas as its main fuel, but it also will be
able to burn ultra-low-sulfur fuel oil for short
periods. Through its pollution-control systems,
the unit will be among the nation's cleanest
gas-fired generating plants, and its emissions
will be significantly lower than the deactivated
Ninemile Point units. Additionally, locating a
large generator like Ninemile 6 close to load
enhances flexibility during system restoration
following a storm such as a hurricane.
Disaster Planning and Mitigation
System restoration following a storm is a
major consideration for Entergy, whose Gulf
Coast operating units were hit hard by hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. Rod West, Entergy's
chief administrative officer, will reflect on
how utility investment decisions should be influenced
by disruptive events such as the 2003
Northeast blackout, Hurricane Katrina, and
Superstorm Sandy in keynote remarks he will
deliver at ELECTRIC POWER on Apr. 1.
West played a unique role in the rebuilding
of Entergy New Orleans. First, in 2005, when
Hurricane Katrina struck and flooded 80% of
the city, West served as manager of the metro
New Orleans region with responsibility for
the city's electric infrastructure. West and his
team oversaw a $250 million reconstruction
of the nearly destroyed New Orleans electrical
1. Ninemile Unit 6. Entergy Corp.'s 550-MW combined cycle generating unit is slated to
enter service in 2015. Courtesy: Entergy Corp.
infrastructure (see " Preparation keyed Entergy's
responses to Katrina, Rita " in POWER's
May 2006 issue at powermag.com).
Second, in 2007, as president and CEO of
Entergy New Orleans, West led that business
unit out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization
and back to profitability. Additionally,
he oversaw one of the industry's largest
natural gas rebuild efforts, which included
replacing around 860 miles of underground
pipe damaged after Hurricane Katrina.
The nuts and bolts of Entergy's emergency
preparedness efforts will be explored in
greater detail at ELECTRIC POWER by Greg
Grillo, storm incident commander, who will
discuss his company's emergency preparedness
planning process. The Edison Electric
Institute (EEI) honored Entergy in 2013 with
its Emergency Recovery Award and Emergency
Assistance Award. EEI cited the utility
for its work restoring power to customers following
Hurricane Isaac and to customers of
other utilities after Hurricane Sandy and other
severe weather events. The recognition was
nothing new for the utility: 2013 marked the
15th consecutive year that Entergy received an
EEI national storm restoration award.
In presenting the award, EEI President
Tom Kuhn said, " Entergy was faced with a
major restoration effort following Hurricane
Isaac. Getting the lights back on quickly and
safely is never easy following these natural
disasters. It takes strong commitment, advanced
planning and great execution. Entergy
responded with all three, and their assistance
shows their compassion in helping others in
their time of need. They're a great example
for the nation's electric power industry. "
Microsoft and the Energy Supply
Chain
Another trend that is picking up steam is the
growing role of diverse customers in the electricity
supply chain. For examaple, in an interview
earlier this year, Brian Janous, director of
energy strategy for Microsoft, told me that Microsoft
looks at data as a " refined form of enerMarch
2014 | POWER
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POWER March 2014

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