HomeMy WebLinkAbout0327.093-
Ju.ne 3, 199)
THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
Palo Alto, California
California-Oregoo Transmission Project Excess Line~acity
Members of the Council:
Report in Brief:
This report is to apprise the Council of staff's intention to
otfer a portion of the city's entitle~ent in the California
Oregon Transmission Project {COTPj for a limited time sale (five
to ten years}, in an effo!t to minimize electric power purchase
cost~ Since there is no committment of funds at this time this
report is inforll),ational only and no Council action is req-"'ired~
Discussion:
The California Oregon Transmission Project is an electric
transmission line that is part of the electric power system
connecting energy markets in northern California ~ith north
.~stern United States. The City, through ~ts membe=ship in the
Transmission Agancy of Northern California, is a part o·wner of
this line. Due to a variety of reasons, including re~~latory
intervention from the California Public Utilities Commission, not
all of thE! original participants in the project remained till
project completion. Therefore, the city opted to assume a
greater share of ownership than originally envisioned. In
hindsight, this is a good outcome due to the availability of
large amounts of lo~er cost hydro po~er in the Northwest. The
City has aggressively pursued opportunities to sign contracts
with suppliers in the north~est to develop a portfolio ~f
resources that translates into the most economical service to the
citizens. The City contracted with Seattle city Light and
Washington Water' Power company to supply a total of 22 MW over
the line for a period of twenty years.
CIIR,327 ,93
: ...... '..., ... . . ~'.--,--~ I .-.: -
\',
-
Nevertheless, the City h~s a g~eater am~unt of capacity on this
line than it can utilize efficiently. Since the Cit z• is
ohligated to pay the debt service for Palo Alto's complete share I
staff intends to offer a portion of the line for a limited amount
of time to ot..l-ter utili ties. who are in a deficit position with
regard to transmission capacity. The precise ~mount of capacity
and the duration of the sale will be de~~rmined once other
utilities make their needs known. Staff's present estimate of
the amount to be offered is 10 to 15 MW for a p~riod of five to
ten years. The City's cost savinqs would range from approximately
$2 to $5 million.
Riqcrous analysis of the responses to the City's offer and
discussions with inte,ested utilities will be done before a
reco~endation is made to the Utilities Advisory" Commission and
Council.
Respectfully submitted,
TOM HAI!ASRI
Ma~~:f~~s:u5'e Planning
E~,.J·:'::C
Interim Director of Utilities
CMR. 327.93 2
'-
"-,
-
Pu!I'K POwu ~eelly iliA-J1, t'J!II3' •.••. 4 • • 50
New 'Oregon Trail' won't carry wagons, but electricity
Some ali':" calling: it the "n-c"w ()r-c~'-m
lr::l.lt, ~ 8m thL! (im~ if. C"J.r,,':ng del
uRi,., not ..... 'J-.:'_H} U-<l..HIS
Th-e Cd.llfor~ia--Or,:,gon Treon, m;I;1 0 n
Projen, <)fIicia.l!~' d("t~icaled 1; ... ,1 W('~~.
can carry up to 1,61~'O ~n'l' of cr;-C";I?
surrllJ~ l-.ydroelNCIiciC:-fu)m ,.)udwrr_
Oregon to :SC"-,hern Cajifornia, ~.'hf:"r.,.
mu~ki?a! Utlll~.U::S pJ.n.icip,ol.ting in t1J:~'
tJiojeet "'ill ger the:r ~hare. The:-$4%
rniilIon line Gill tarry power Ln ;:-l1her
dlfrCTjo n, depe Lldmg on c-:.$t, TI eed ';J.Ild
~ .. pplit'"~ in th:: t\~'() are-dS. La,er in the
year, during colder months, the direc
tion of thf" elenIlClt)-' 'h--:!! rec'e~Si:' and
Cal:iornia IilI.H1i~ 1Io':1l ~nd po\<'er non!":
to mt:e~ peak demand mere,
'The COTP i!l P roof of ~hare-d ec I)
nomics and rd!abilit.ie.,~ 54..id Rep, VIC
Fazio, D-Calif. ~B:/exchang1ng electric
it;r'over the pm .... er line, utilities in both
regia [\5 can defer build in g ne'-" pown
plants a..r;.a. u>e t]-It: ii:ost elorJomicii
resources avaiiablc to meellheir energv
neet1.s. Morec,vcr. the COTP rt"duces
the char:ce~ of a m~Qr prY.I'er ouube
c;J.u~d b~' a n;uuri! dis~ler iike a snow
.norm or forest fire,· he ~aid_
Th~ Idea to build the COT? (arne
abc,ul in 19S4wnen a group ofmunicr
paIl,. owned utilities in ~'orthern C..ah ..
fDc,,;J b'·g:l~ I,] SlL,:C\ pDU;ll1i.J.I lip
S"~ .tcin ~l:' rhe: F.:llltl(-:-";\.,n11Wtq-P;;,clf~(
S<Julhl.'eq lr:tC"r'Jellnd the p')~'ilb;~Lt'
e,f ~ddlng n._"",,' f.1cltlt'n The p;.r-jfic I
rlLlnue '~l' t;'Jih ir. the 190'); b',
-C:::J.ltfllrni~'51nw.:stlJr-o\;'ned litillti('~ ~':"1
oper. r'el;.' m.trk .... t$ for ,ILlrplll~ h,dro
power ge-neratt"d in !l.e ~orth,,"eH,
.edL<le C:!lif'JrniJ'~ ciepen':eoce on
rnot e exp('n~iye· ni14ana p.,.fired g.-n
cr.ating f:'-Clhue~, and aV~<::"Lllmod]le
~t"-;l~lm;.:! exchanges of t"nerg"-, Eo.:, as
commur,ilic. grew, the ilne I<-""JS h:
quen11no0 Iul! (0 transfer an the :!e;:>
u:<::.ity (bat .... '3.1; m:eded.
, ... " ........ ~ .... h .. ' ... ' .. ~4.~~"'~ ... .:I" ... , .•
\\"~th the heir-of the !,.\·estt'al Area
PG\\C"r Admtrli'Hra1ion and tlLC Tran:;
Il':~>lOIl .-'\geaq of Northern Calif Dr ..
n;a, u,t" C.uiforni .. :nunidpal ulilnJn
,,-ere .E:bie 10 build a 340-mile-liJng
!:rJ.['.'ml5~ion Lne ... -iLh enough (apac4 ,
il~' lO h.<mdle the po","'er needs of owr T1l~' c.c"OC::"'C,=rnc"c.oon=,oc,C,cnc,C.=.:;:iUi~-~I;d---··
a miii ion people, The COTP bq~an
deliwring elalrid~' on :-'-brc.h ii,
(See Public Pcl;';''t'T I'i.'uki). \fJ.r61 ~g,
p~ge 3)
"("at J)-' halfofth(> llne;;,-as .:ons tJ'l1( ted
bl' upgradmg to 50v..k.Y an exi,ring line
owned by the Wesrerr. .-\rea Po· ... e~ Ad·
minim---<ttion. The upgrade minimind
clwirOl:mentaI impacts ;and lOlUU'UC-
liun CPSL', .. [cording t<) T.-'\NC, which
served as u-e projer! '1lanagl'J ;and o ... ·ru
the large$t ~hMe of the ne ... line-8D%.
P;'Jojelt panicipJ.nrs., wh,') share L1.e
::OIL~ oftht" line. are mO$! ell.clled about
t!w op!ion~ for en eapf"r p'~'l<-e, p: (Hided
by dle COIf. Each utiiity \;.,11 make il'S
own dtals for POI'.'Cf. 00 the fina. .. 1ciaI
impart ... ill va,,, from plan' 10 pl:o.ce.
L I 0\,"1 H, l-i.u>"C'g'-', exe;:u ~ ,,: JiTecor of
T-\.'\;C. t>:>..pl;l;(;t>d in a ;pe:iai rt"pcrt tG
T~J; S,,"1r";'1S11I/"flIO R-e. ~B\l! -;(Idl("~ ha\e
sho',r, tnolt fUl'.l.rl! s.:lvings to all dw
';.\:ep~\el~ inw.,I'.ed-.af(f'r paying for
COTP--{'ould be $:?OO million 10 $~()C
million mT[ tnt" ltfe ofthf" tllojecl. ~ he
~atd
P:oject p:V-llupants include T:\."C,
, .... -\P..-I.., Caltfc mia Dc p,n ~ rn tnt ()~-\\'ater
Rev:ul'U's, Uti' of \'err:oIl, Calif,
Cll mi c nJ.l-l \\'.11 t:r Distnn, Sanjuan Sub
'--'i-ban \\'aler Dim-in, 5hasc.1 Dam Area
Pu1::1~c l.·tllir;. Dlsu-le! ::lnd SoI.:,her(J Soln
JoaqLlII'; Yalk; ?l)'\~1 Auuwriry.
T\..'C memb('fS inl'01\'d Ln tht> COTP
~n(ll,de the ritie; of A.LlollH:dJ.
l-~r"alo:hhllrg, Lr~tdL, Lurnp'Jc Pal,} .,\l!o,
Re!Hi:I~, Rm('yillc and VkiJ.h~ \fodeslD
lrllg';!lion D:st.rln, P!Llm.l"SI("rla Rut-a]
[kLcri,: (I)oper-;itl'.'~~ S.'h.rameillo Mu
nl <_~pa~ l" tilito' DL:' 1.1';('[, .an d Turlock !rrj·
g.uiclr, Dmriet I
• ,
,
.,
• \.
;':'-,;