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Proposed power plant will raise power reliability and lower monthly bills By
Jamie Baer As winter approaches, the director of Logan City Light and Power is optimistic about the city's many sources of power. "I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket," Director Ron Saville said. Logan City has several sources of power, including water, gas and imported power traveling through Utah Power and Light transmission lines. According to Electric Engineer Manager Garth Turley, less than 6 percent, and sometimes none, of Logan's power is generated by water, since the city doesn't receive enough rainfall for the hydroelectric plants to operate frequently. At one time diesel and water power accounted for 10 percent of the total power in Logan during the spring runoff; however, the diesel plant was recently shut down due to high rates of pollution and in anticipation of the newly designed natural gas generators. Saville sees only advantages to the mixture of power sources. He said the varying sources are great since the hydroelectric plants won't work during a dry season, and if that was the city's only source of power, "we'd be in big trouble." That's why he's concerned about the delays of the new power plant, which would become an important source of the city's power if approved. The diesel power plant, where the natural gas generators are being proposed, has been at its location since the 1920s. According to city law the plant can continue service, but no expansion is allowed because it lies on land zoned for multiple-family, medium-density housing, meaning it's only for residential use. The city took its case to court against the neighbors of the plant, who complained that the new generators would increase pollution and noise. First District Judge Clint Judkins ruled the proposed construction as an expansion because three feet were being added to the smoke stacks and the plant would be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He suggested taking the case to the Logan City Planning Commission to rezone the property, or apply for a conditional-use permit. In addition to the expansion ruling, a hearing before the Utah Division of Air Quality on Sept. 24 turned out hopeful for the city. Mayor Doug Thompson said the board gave every indication they were going to approve a permit in the next week stating that the expansion would be within the bounds of pollution. Scientists with the Utah Division of Air Quality examined the plant and said the gas-powered generators would be "a significant improvement to air quality." According to Thompson, the city is working on an initial budget of $1 million to improve the site of the plant, such as the yard. "The old plants were an eyesore," said Thompson. "We want to be a good neighbor." Thompson hopes this renovation will be done next spring. Right now the grounds are a mess, with piles of dirt, rocks and chunks of cement littering the overgrown weeds behind the chain-link fence. The remains of a house's foundation lie in a pile next to the plant, and brown paper bags and boxes look like they were blown through by gale-force winds. Next door, a chunk of cement the size of a snowmobile trailer disrupts the front yard of a home. Thompson added that the neighbors will "wonder what all the fuss was about," since the generators will release mostly water vapor, and the acoustical engineers have made sure the plant will pass the noise ordinance, meaning the generators won't be heard from the street. Saville said the main objective of the new power plant is to dramatically lower power costs for Logan residents. The new plant, called a "peaking plant," will run at only half the cost of the current plants. A peaking plant is able to keep costs down by running only the units needed for a certain time of day. A "base load" is needed 24 hours a day to simply keep power flowing through the city, and costs $25 to $30 per megawatt, or the power equal to 10,000 100-watt household light bulbs. As residents wake up and businesses begin to open, the power needed to run the city, without blackouts, begins to rise. The peak hours for power are between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and power in those hours currently costs about $1,000 per megawatt. However, with natural gas units, the cost drops dramatically to $50 to $70 per megawatt. The way this is done is by preventing power surplus, which is power that's being put out by the plants and paid for by the public, but isn't being used by anybody. According to Saville, it's the surplus power that causes fluctuating and increasing power bills. Saville said preventing the surplus will be easy with the new generators; only one natural gas unit will operate until the need for power rises during the peak hours, then another will switch on, then the third if needed. Only the amount of power needed will be sent out of the plant, therefore creating no surplus power and limiting the amount of power the residents must pay for. Besides serving as a peaking plant, the new power generators will also be used for emergencies, such as outages. Fifteen megawatts of emergency power will be stored in case of blackouts, then distributed throughout the city, particularly to shelters, until it's gone. This will generally run the city for about six hours. Saville is beginning to worry since the plants aren't running yet, and the city has no backup power. "There's no way to prepare for emergencies," said Saville. "If there's a power outage, we're dead in the water." Thompson and Logan City Light and Power are still encouraging residents to do their part in conserving energy and lowering bills. "We'll be cranking up our conservation programs for winter again to get people to conserve," said Thompson. As the mayor shows a guest into his office, he flips the overhead light on, making them both squint like moles coming out of their holes. Once he's alone, however, he works only by the light of two desktop lamps, totaling just 90 watts. In fact, these efforts of conservation and the commercials shown on Logan cable throughout the summer won the mayor and the city an award from the Utah Association of Municipal Power Systems for having the strongest conservation effort in the state and setting the best example. Commercials will be airing again to prepare for winter, but the mayor also wants to encourage residents to save power the simple way, by using less lighting, watching less television and only running heat, at the lowest comfort level, while at home. Handouts and tips are also available at the city service center in Logan. With the new power plant to help save money, and personal conservation efforts, many residents have still expressed concern about where their utility money goes, and if it's being used properly. According to Saville, residents' money goes three places when they mail their monthly checks. First it pays for the actual power used during the month in homes or businesses. A part of it goes to the infrastructure of running a utility, such as the cost of poles, wires, transformers, city offices and small parts of some salaries. The leftover goes to the city to use in "any way they see fit." "Our future looks very good for power supply, stability and price," said Saville. "We are long-range planning all the time." Logan City Light and Power prides itself in service and reliability. When residents flip their light switch, they expect power, and Saville guarantees that's what they'll get. "If you have any problems," Saville said, "we're always here."
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