Importing power to keep cool

It's a long way from Reno, but a big power line beginning to take shape across east-central Nevada is a critical element in meeting the region's growing need for electricity.

Sierra Pacific Power officials say they're confident the utility can meet the region's needs even on the hottest days of this summer, and state officials agree.

But the utility doesn't have any new generating stations under construction, and it's adding anywhere from 8,500 to 9,000 new customers a year to its system.

So where will the power come from? For the short-term, the power northern Nevada needs to run its factories and cool its offices and homes will come from elsewhere.

And that's why the new transmission line is so important.

Jeff Ceccarelli, president of Sierra Power, ran through the numbers a few days ago as temperatures began their summertime climb: On the hottest day of last summer 5 p.m.

on July 10, 2002, to be precise the customers of Sierra Power demanded 1,590 megawatts from the system.

This year, power company officials expect the peak demand to be somewhere in the area of 1,600 megawatts.

A bit under 1,000 megawatts of that will come from the generating facilities owned by Sierra Pacific.

The rest a full third of the power that the area needs will come from elsewhere, but almost certainly not from the generating facilities of Nevada Power, Sierra Pacific's sister company in southern Nevada.

No major transmission lines line northern and southern Nevada, and Las Vegas needs all the power it can get on the scorching summer days when demand also is at its peak in Reno.

To meet northern Nevada's needs, one big transmission line runs northwest from Reno to Alturas, Calif., bringing in hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest.

As stream flow declines in the Northwest during the summer, northern Nevada uses less of that power.

Instead, the region relies on two lines that run east from Reno.

One, a 345- kilovolt line, runs northeast to Jackpot along the Idaho border north of Wells.

The second, a smaller 230-kilovolt transmission line, runs pretty much straight east to the Utah border near Ely.

The problem, Ceccarelli said, is that the line connecting northern Nevada to the power supplies available at the Utah state line is a small pipe compared to the large pipe that runs across the north edge of the state.

The $110.5 million new Falcon- Gonder line runs for 180 miles from near Carlin to near Ely ties the big pipe and the small pipe together increasing the potential flow of power from Utah into northern Nevada.

The transmission line is expected to be complete by next May, just in time for the hottest days of 2004.

The utility and state officials are paying close attention, meanwhile, to what happens next.

Ceccarelli said Sierra Pacific Power wants to generate its own power to meet about 70 percent of its peak-day needs, relying on outside suppliers for the remainder.

Currently, the state Office of Energy said in a recent report, Sierra Pacific generates 68 percent of the power it needs.

But as power demand is projected to grow by about 1.5 percent a year in northern Nevada, the state said Sierra Pacific by 2008 could be generating barely more than 60 percent of the power its customers need unless new generating capacity is brought on line.

"We would like to have more generating capacity in the state as we grow," Ceccarelli said.

The state believes a large portion of the additional generating capacity will come from renewable sources geothermal, solar and wind.

The state study said it expects renewable sources in northern Nevada to bring 12 megawatts on line this year, a number that could rise to 227 megawatts by 2008.