Fossil powered utilities could be hampered by delays in coal deliveries. Not so for hydroelectric plants.

I would think that if there were major coal and nuclear problems then a lot of attention will to to these hydro areas. I have searched for a list of hydroelectric plants but have been unable to find one. Could someone provide the url which has a list or a map of hydroelectric plants for the US.

-- Anonymous, November 26, 1998

Answers

Steve, I did find a map of the five federal hydroelectric control regions with the phone and fax numbers for each region's Director. They could probably provide you with a map, or at least tell you how to get one. The URL is:

http://www.ferc.fed.us/hydro/docs/regions.htm

I also thought you might be interested in the following paragraph about hydroelectric power in the U.S.:

"In 1920, hydroelectric power comprised about 30 percent of the nation's generating capacity, and 40 percent of the energy supplied by electric systems. By the early 1960's, because we were relying more on fossil fuels and the best sites for hydro were already developed, hydro only contributed about 20 percent of the capacity. Hydro's contribution to the energy mix continued to decline and by 1996, hydro contributed only about 10 percent."

So it appears that even though hydroelectric generation does not depend on coal, gas, or nuclear power, it only supplies at most 10% of the U.S. electric power consumption.

If you want some details about the hydroelectric plants here is some more info:

"Approximately 2,358 hydroelectric power plants were operating in the U.S. as of December 31, 1996, with 74,800 megawatts of conventional generating capacity and 18,400 megawatts of pumped storage capacity. Ownership of this generating capacity is divided as follows: (1) 44 percent is federal; (2) 35 percent is private; and (3) 21 percent non-federal public (for example irrigation districts, cities, and water districts). The Commission has authority over about 1,016 licenses and 617 exemptions, or approximately 96 percent of ownership categories (2) and (3).

Except for Delaware, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Hawaii, all states have operating hydroelectric projects authorized by the Commission. Washington, California, and Oregon are the leading states in hydroelectric production.

In terms of generating capacity, Susquehanna Power Company and Philadelphia Electric Company operate a 512-megawatt hydroelectric plant on the Susquehanna River near Conowingo, Maryland, which is the largest privately-owned conventional hydropower plant in the country. The largest operating non-federal, publicly-owned conventional hydroelectric plant is a 2,515.5-megawatt power plant operated by the New York Power Authority at Niagara Falls, New York.

The largest conventional hydroelectric project owned by the federal government is the Grand Coulee project on the Columbia River in north central Washington with a capacity of 6,180 megawatts."

I also haven't heard much about the compliance of all the dam control systems in the U.S. I do believe they are operated by computers nowadays, but I don't know if this could create a major problem or not.

Best wishes to you!

-- Anonymous, November 26, 1998

Tom,

I'm, not a hydroelectric expert, but at the two seperate meeting I attended where y2k leaders from Bonneville Power spoke(I believe they run all of the dams along the columbia river) They said that the dams being as old as they were, would not have any trouble generating power and for the following reasons:

Plants were so old, very little automation involved in generating power.

Primarily manual systems controlling the flow of water to the turbines.

These guys from Bonneville didn't think there would be any problems with the dams. I'd like to know how the flow of electricity might be affected once it gets away from the old dam to the various distribution centers...

I'd love to hear an expert opinion.

Jeff

-- Anonymous, November 27, 1998

As an aside: Bonnie, I always appreciate your well written, informative posts. Thanks!

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1998

Just a technical comment on Mr. Wold's reply - Bonneville Power does not run the dams along the Columbia River, or anywhere else. BPA is a transmission agency, they do not own or operate power generating facilities. Federal dams are operated by either the Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation. A number of other dams throughout the Pacific Northwest are operated by a variety of public and private agencies. That being said, it is fair to say that BPA would still have some knowledge of preparations at hydro facilities feeding into their system based on their own contacts.

It is true though that there's more to this than just generating the power - it must still be transmitted through BPA's system, and BPA has their own extensive Y2K program. Also, BPA supplies that power to a multitude of distributors (PUDs, municipalities, etc.) who are responsible for delivery to their customers.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 1998

There is information on Bonneville Power Administration's Year 2000 project at:

http://www.bpa/gov/Corporate/CI/Y2K/Y2K.html

The following is excerpted from another part of the Bonneville site:

What exactly does BPA do?

BPA is a self-financing federal power marketing agency that has four major mandates:

It sells the power generated by 29 federally owned dams and one nuclear power plant in the Pacific Northwest. BPA is a power wholesaler, with over 150 utility, government and direct service industry customers. BPA delivers this power and power from other suppliers to its customers through a transmission grid, which it owns and operates. The grid stretches some 15,012 circuit miles across the region. BPA works with other agencies, states and tribes on fish and wildlife programs in the region. BPA finances the bulk of salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin. Unlike private utilities, BPA has unique responsibilities to provide public benefits. These include providing low-cost Northwest federal hydropower at cost to Northwest customers; giving preference in power sales to Northwest public utilities and cooperatives...

Is BPA a private company?

No, BPA is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Specifically, it is one of five federal power marketing agencies within DOE. The others are the Alaska Power Administration, the Western Area Power Administration, the Southeastern Power Administration and the Southwestern Power Administration.

Though it is a government agency, BPA has partnerships with and competitors in the electric utility industry which are private-sector companies.

To what regions does BPA supply power?

BPAs main service territory is Washington, Oregon, Idaho and the portion of Montana west of the Continental Divide. Its service territory also includes small portions of Nevada, Wyoming, Utah and northern California. BPA also sells surplus energy to California and other western states.

How do I know if my utility gets its power from BPA?

BPA provides power to virtually all Northwest utilities. Some public utility districts (PUDs) and municipal utilities, particularly smaller ones in rural areas, buy all of their power from BPA. Others buy a portion of the power they need from BPA. Even private, investor-owned utilities (IOUs) get a portion of the power they use to serve residential customers from BPA through a program called the Residential Exchange. If youd like more specific information, ask a customer service representative at your utility how much of its power is purchased from BPA.

Aside to Jack - Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them! I do hope you're using the information and preparing for potential disruptions. All good luck to you in your efforts.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 1998

Thanks for the clarification Tom!

Jeff

-- Anonymous, December 01, 1998