Washington City Power Board hears generation, substation and solar updates; approves agenda and minutes

The Washington City Power Board on July 1 received routine operations, generation and project updates and approved the meeting agenda and minutes.

Rick, a utility staff member, told the board June’s system peak was about 49.4 megawatts, roughly 3 megawatts below June of last year, and said generators have been running four to 10 hours per day depending on temperature and market pricing. He reported the board’s power cost adjustment (PCA) has remained negative for about a year and was “just under 1.4¢ a kilowatt-hour.”

The largest project update was on the Grapevine Substation. Rick described work that began last year and will continue through the current year, including a poured transformer pad, control building foundations and drilled piers. He said the piers are about 9 feet deep and roughly 30 inches in diameter and that crews have encountered a slow seep of groundwater at the site; crews are using pumps to keep concrete pours dry. He said transmission-structure drawings were approved and anchor bolts should arrive in five to six weeks, with structures likely to be set in the fall.

Rick also…