FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
July 13, 2004
MEDIA CONTACT:
LaVerne Kyriss, 720-962-7050, cell: 303-570-8226, kyriss@wapa.gov
David Christy, 916-353-4436, christy@wapa.gov
WESTERN SELECTS SMUD TO
HOST CALIFORNIA SUB-CONTROL AREA
FOLSOM, Calif.—Western Area Power Administration
selected the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to host sub-control
area
operations for the Sierra Nevada Region beginning Jan. 1, 2005.
“We selected SMUD based on the
five
criteria (flexibility, durability, certainty, operating transparency,
and
cost-effectiveness) identified in our public process,” said Jim
Keselburg, Western’s
Sierra Nevada regional manager. Western will
execute the
contract and necessary agreements with SMUD and will develop the
necessary
detailed operating protocols in the near future. SMUD’s board of
directors must
also approve the contract before it can be signed and become effective.
Western completed
a nine-month public process to identify a preferred operating
configuration for
use after its existing contracts with Pacific Gas and Electric Company
expire Dec. 31, 2004.
Western then becomes
responsible for arranging and meeting most of its own supplemental
power and
transmission needs. Under the existing contracts, PG&E acts as the
interface with the California Independent System Operator.
As a sub-control
area, Western will schedule power deliveries for Project Use loads and
customers directly connected to its transmission system and in other
control
areas. Western will match generation and load, provide reserves and
frequency
support to meet reliability criteria, and submit generation schedules
to the
host control area. Western will manage net power flows at the
sub-control area
interconnection points.
As part of the
decision, Western’s Pacific AC Intertie line will remain within the
California
Independent System Operator’s control area and Western will implement
procedures with Bonneville Power Administration to enhance transmission
system
reliability across the California-Oregon border.
Western’s
Sierra Nevada Region markets and transmits Federal hydropower from the
Central
Valley Project to preference customers in Northern and Central
California.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Visit http://www.wapa.gov/sn/initiatives/post2004/opScenarios/
for more background information on this decision.