Tri-State’s new peak demand for electricity
soars 13 percent above previous year’s mark

An unprecedented July heat wave that has pushed the mercury to triple-digit records in much of Tri-State's four-state service territory has prompted the power supplier to pull out all the stops on its available generation to meet a new peak demand of more than 2,400 megawatts. Over the past two weeks, Tri-State has seen its peak hit a series of record levels as hot, dry weather has dominated the region.

The 2005 peak is nearly 13 percent above the association’s 2004 summer peak of just under 2,100 megawatts. One megawatt is enough power to serve approximately 700-800 homes. Tri-State provides wholesale power to 44 electric cooperatives and public power districts that serve a population of about 1.2 million. The aggregate summer peak in demand for electricity is typically reached in July when irrigation pumping from agricultural loads in rural areas is combined with heavy air conditioning use across a vast service territory extending north from Lordsburg, N.M., to Sheridan, Wyo., and east from Meeker, Colo., to the Nebraska panhandle.

Further exacerbating the record-high demand for electricity is an overall 4 percent annual growth rate that is adding about 100 megawatts of new load to an existing system already stretched to its limits to meet the normal day-to-day power requirements of the membership.

“Right now, we are utilizing all of our available baseload generation at maximum output – including Craig, (northwest Colorado) Laramie River (southeast Wyoming) and Escalante (central New Mexico) stations and have called upon our more expensive gas- and oil-fueled peaking units to get us through this peak period,” explained Tom Smith, system operations manager for Tri-State.

To help stem the generation deficit, Tri-State has stepped up the construction schedule of a new coal-based unit in Springerville, Ariz., that will add a much needed 200 megawatts to its system by next summer.

But, like most other utilities in the region, Tri-State will still be in the position having to develop even more generation resources in order to meet its projected future loads.

“Tri-State, Xcel Energy and nearly every other utility in the region are forecasting our loads to continue to grow significantly,” said J.M. Shafer, executive vice president and general manager of Tri-State. “The record demand for electricity today, along with future load growth, clearly illustrates the need to strengthen and further develop the generation and transmission infrastructure throughout the entire state of Colorado,” he said.

“In the meantime, we’re doing everything we can do to keep our existing facilities running at maximum output and efficiency to maintain the power delivery reliability that today’s consumers have come to expect. And as a group, all of the state’s utilities are urging consumers to conserve energy as much as they possibly can,” Shafer said.