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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15 Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems Power Presentation AGENDA ITEM #15 r P, I Public Utility District MEETING DATE: September 6, 2023 TO: Board of Directors FROM: Joe Horvath, Assistant General Manager/ Electric Utility Director SUBJECT: Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) Power presentation APPROVED BY: Brian C. Wright, General Manager RECOMMENDATION: Receive this workshop item and provide strategic feedback and direction to staff regarding the power supply portfolio. BACKGROUND: The Truckee Donner Public Utility is preparing a series of Board meeting workshops over the coming months to learn about TDPUD's existing electric resources, current opportunities, and emerging technologies. As Truckee's not-for-profit, community- owned, and locally governed electric utility, TDPUD's mission exists to serve the needs of our customers. What our customers demand drives the costs, reliability, and environmental performance of our energy services. When it comes to using electricity, the day of the year and the time of each day is of significant importance when it comes to the availability of clean resources and the overall cost of electricity. One powerful tool utilities use to plan for the communities' energy future is Integrated Resources Planning (IRP). IRP starts with existing customer demand — by day and hour for each day of the year— and seeks the most cost-effective way to meet demand while optimizing clean resources and reliability. On the customer demand side, utilities can partner with their customers to conserve energy and reduce usage during peak times when electricity is the most expensive and the availability of clean resources is constrained. Once an electric utility's demand profile is known and optimized, electric utilities will seek electric resources to meet customer needs. Balancing affordability, reliability, and environmental performance have been key priorities and IRP's are great tools to help accomplish these goals and meet ever increasing environmental compliance requirements. For TDPUD, which is a winter, weekend, and nighttime peaking utility, already achieving over 60% renewable/clean resources and is approaching 100% during the day, the challenge going forward is to find clean, affordable baseload energy sources to account for the gaps associated with intermittent (solar/wind) generation Page 1 of 3 Page 45 of 85 sources. TDPUD's new IRP is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year and will provide insights on how best to manage both the demand side and generation resource side of the electric utility equation. This series of Board meeting workshops provides an opportunity to learn about electric resources, the realities of needing to schedule electric resources to match load, and the potential projects and opportunities TDPUD may choose to pursue in the future. TDPUD's current electric resources include wind, solar, hydroelectric, landfill gas, heat recovery, and natural gas. Electric resources that are either in development or which could be available within a relatively short period of time include geothermal, wind, solar, battery storage, biomass, natural gas, and new nuclear. Emerging technologies include new nuclear, hydrogen, and various energy storage innovations. ANALYSIS AND BODY: The first in this series of TDPUD Board meeting workshops will cover the new nuclear project being led by the Utah Associated Municipal Utilities Association (UAMPS) working in partnership with the United States Department of Energy and NuScale Power. This project offers the potential of carbon-free, dispatchable power generation that could be available as a baseload energy source (available during the day or night). This informational workshop will include leadership from UAMPS, NuScale Power, and other key project partners including: • George Griffin, Relationship Manager, Idaho National Laboratory • Chuck Goodnight, Vice-President, Sales • Mason Baker, Chief Executive Officer, UAMPS. TDPUD was an early participant in the NuScale Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). However, in 2017, the Board made a decision to separate from the project, finding it to be out of alignment with the District's energy procurement strategies based upon the available information at the time. New nuclear technology continues to evolve and available energy markets have changed dramatically since then. This workshop is intended to shed light on the evolution of some of these technologies, the status of the project and the opportunities available to UAMPS members. Future Board meeting workshops will cover traditional renewable resources (solar, wind, and hydro), traditional base-load resources (geothermal, landfill gas, heat recovery, and natural gas), and other emerging technologies. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: District Code 1 .05.020 Objectives: 1. Responsibly serve the public. 2. Provide a healthy and safe work environment for all District employees. Page 2 of 3 Page 46 of 85 3. Provide reliable and high quality water supply and distribution system to meet current and future needs. 4. Provide reliable and high quality electric supply and distribution system to meet current and future needs. 5. Manage the District in an environmentally sound manner. 6. Manage the District in an effective, efficient and fiscally responsible manner. District Code 1.05.030 Goals: 1. Manage for Financial Stability and Resiliency 2. Environmental Stewardship: Create a sustainable resilient environment for all our communities. 3. Engage with our customers and communities in a welcoming and transparent way to identify opportunities. 4. Take the best of private sector thinking to modernize the utility and add value to our communities. 5. Developing an inclusive culture drives organizational integration and success. FISCAL IMPACT: ATTACHMENTS: None Page 3 of 3 Page 47 of 85