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Renewable Resource for Sale to the Highest Bidder
Grant PUD Plans Third Power Auction
August 6, 2007
EPHRATA, WA – Grant PUD is preparing for its third annual auction of a slice of clean, renewable hydro power on the Columbia River. The auction date is set for November 1, 2007.
“Dams are the Northwest’s original renewable energy source. They provide an abundant supply of affordable power without emitting greenhouse gases,” said Tim Culbertson Grant PUD general manager. “We are pleased to be able to offer a portion of our clean resource to the winner of this auction.”
This year’s auction will be for a 12.33 percent slice of the Priest Rapids Dam output for the period beginning January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. On average, approximately 62 annual megawatts of energy, or enough power to light 37,200 homes, will go to the winner. Broken down, it translates into roughly 113 megawatts of capacity and 1,094 megawatt-hours of storage.
In 2005, Grant PUD conducted its first annual power auction. The auction was the idea of utility staff looking for a simple, yet effective, way to respond to a 1998 order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that required Grant PUD to sell a reasonable portion of its firm and non-firm power generation according to market based principles.
Grant PUD’s 2005 power auction was the first of its kind for the utility and possibly the United States. In all, 13 utilities and power-marketing firms participated in the auction. Constellation Energy Commodities Group, Inc. submitted a winning bid of $21,051,369 for 6.52 percent of the output from Priest Rapids Dam. The contract period ran from November 1, 2005 through December 31, 2006.
In September 2006, a second power auction was held for an 8.86 percent slice of the Priest Rapids Dam output. Powerex, a subsidiary of BC Hydro, won the right for the contract that runs from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007. The winning bid was $23,333,666.
Grant PUD owns and operates Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River in Washington state. The two hydroelectric facilities, licensed together as the Priest Rapids Project, make up one of the nation’s largest non-Federal hydropower projects, with the capacity to produce nearly 2,000 megawatts of electricity.
Additional information on the 2007 power auction can be found at www.gcpud.org/powerauction/.
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Grant County Public Utility District is a Washington state municipal corporation that began electric service in 1942. Owned by the people it serves, Grant PUD generates and sells electricity to Grant County residents and millions of customers throughout Central Washington and the Pacific Northwest. The Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams, produces nearly 2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable and reliable electricity – enough to supply a city the size of Seattle. A leader in science based technology; Grant PUD is committed to finding effective measures for the protection, mitigation and enhancement of salmon, steelhead and other natural and cultural resources.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sarah Morford
(509) 754-6633 / smorfor@gcpud.org
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