GP&L Fills a Void Among Power Generators

Two thousand and one is only two months old, yet Garland Power & Light (GP&L) is busy preparing for the dramatic changes coming to the electric utility marketplace. The centerpiece of GP&L's vision for the future is the addition of a combustion turbine generator at Ray Olinger Power Plant. GP&L's newest unit has two characteristics that make it unique among the 20 new power plants presently under construction in Texas.

First is its location. GP&L is building the only new plant in the Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties area. This means GP&L must meet the more stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) permitting and pollution requirements, while others have chosen to construct plants outside the four county area to avoid the tighter emission regulations mandated by the EPA and the TNRCC.

The second difference is size. While others have chosen to build large base load power plants averaging 750 megawatts in size, GP&L has elected to build a small 75-megawatt peaking plant. The way these power plants are utilized is as different as their size. To understand this difference one needs to first visualize the typical usage pattern of electricity when it is plotted out over a 24-hour period. The plot looks much like a pyramid with the base load being the bottom. The base represents the electricity constantly in use. As the day progresses and we begin to turn on air conditioners, computers, equipment, etc., the electric load begins to increase forming the peak of the pyramid. Meeting this peak demand requires small generators that can match up with these short periods of very high electric loads.

Since the deregulation of the wholesale electric energy market in 1997 the demand for peaking energy has steadily increased in North Texas. GP&L has been able to take advantage of this new market by selling this much-needed peaking energy during the high demand periods. While others have chosen to enter the market with large base load power plants GP&L has chosen a much safer and proven path. Although power from the new generator will ultimately be needed for GP&L's own customers, the short term sale of energy on the wholesale market is expected to recoup the entire cost of the new generator. Positioning GP&L for the ever-expanding wholesale market is important as GP&L strives to keep rates low in the newly competitive market place.