Growth not the only culprit to higher energy needs

New rooftops mixed with a continuing population boom aren't completely to blame for the ever-increasing energy needs of Northern Colorado.

As communities move to a digital interface, from personal digital assistants, or PDAs, and laptop computers to high definition plasma TVs, the kilowatt hours Fort Collins requires each time it plugs in is on the rise.

In 1980, the city's an-nual demand for electricity hovered at 82 megawatts.
In 2007, the city's energy needs tripled to 295.8 megawatts. In 2020, officials expect the city to need 429.2 megawatts, a more than 423 percent increase from 1980.

"We work closely with the cities on their de-mand projections and we do modeling ourselves to help prepare for the expected increases," said Brian Moeck, general manager of Platte River Power Authority, which provides energy to Fort Collins, Longmont, Love-land and Estes Park.

Like Fort Collins, the three other cities expect their energy demand to increase anywhere from 25 to 39 percent, depending on municipality.

To help satisfy the electronic thirst, PRPA is installing a fifth natural gas combustion turbine at its Rawhide location to provide an additional 128 Megawatts of capacity and has plans to install a sixth turbine in 2015.

Although PRPA electricity rates are comparatively low to surrounding utilities, the increased demand won't come without a price.

Where to get it?

The coal burning power plant at Rawhide constructed 25 years ago provides PRPA with 70 percent of its energy needs.

Of the remaining gap, 17 percent is generated through hydro projects in scattered locations with the remaining 13 percent gained by natural gas, wind and power purchases made from surrounding utilities.

Pending federal carbon tax legislation could make coal plant operations increasingly more costly forcing many utilities, including PRPA, to turn to cleaner, albeit more expensive, energy forms suc wind.

Historically, PRPA has bolstered its renewable portfolio through the purchase of renewable energy credits, or RECs, that allow it to invest in wind farms owned by others who pay for main-tenance and repairs.

If a carbon tax were instituted, PRPA would not get credit for RECs and would only see benefit from its homegrown Medicine Bow wind project built nearly a decade ago. Last year, wind power generated 1 percent of PRPA's total energy, Moeck said.

PRPA has a request for proposals out to build 50 megawatts of additional wind capacity - making the new natural gas turbines logical.

Although the price of natural gas can be volatile and expensive, the upfront capital construction expense is a fraction of the cost of a new coal plant.

The cost of the new turbine at Rawhide is $55 million, Moeck said, adding that a new coal plant of the same capacity could cost as much as $300 million.

Almost more important though is the value natural gas has as a supplement to the additional wind power PRPA is working to bring on-line.
Or in other words, natural gas is the yin to wind's yang.

Filling the gap

Because wind is intermittent by nature, public utilities are re-quired to meet peak energy demands with more reliable energy sources such as coal or hydro power.

"When the wind blows at a time of peak use that is a bonus for us but we can't count on it," Moeck said.

Unlike coal plants, which are difficult and expensive to turn on and off, natural gas turbines can be ignited when energy demand is high and the wind calm but turned off when gusts pick up.

"Using natural gas is absolutely the right way and most flexible ap-proach to meet the re-gion's growing energy demands," said Dan Bihn, an Electric Board member and an energy expert in Fort Collins. "I think PRPA is doing the right thing as opposed to putting an additional coal plant that has an economic life of 75 years. This gives the community the most flexibility to address a changing energy future."

Although Bihn agreed power consumption will continue to increase he believes PRPA's estimates are inflated be-ause it cannot take into account the amount of conservation residents, and new technology, will bring.

No matter the approach, though, the cost of providing the addi-tional capacity isn't cheap.

PRPA expects the wholesale cost of utilities to go up 25 percent in coming years - an increase that will equate to an 18-20 percent rise of residents' monthly utility bills.

"We're projecting that over the next six years based on rising fuel costs, rising transportation costs and increased ex-penses for steel, copper and aluminum which have gone up considerably in recent years," Moeck said adding the additional natural gas required to fuel the new turbines will be a factor, too.

City Council member Wade Troxell, who also serves as the associate dean for research and economic development for the CSU Engineering School, said he expects Fort Collins energy de-mands to become a more upfront issue as time goes by.

"Basically we're becoming more dependent on electricity every day,
Troxell said. "It's not simply the plasma screens and air conditioners, either. We live in a digital world that is powered by electricity so literally every appliance from your iPhone to iPod to every appliance in your home and office has an electric component to it."