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Power board: 2025 peak fell slightly from 2024; NEBO steam turbine out until spring
Summary
At its December meeting the Washington City Power Board reviewed a post‑peak report showing 2025 peak load about 1 MW below 2024 and heard that major NEBO steam‑turbine damage will keep the unit offline into spring, prompting a temporary 3 MW purchase and insurance claims.
Speaker 2 presented the 2025 post‑peak report and told the board the system feeding Washington County saw a peak about a megawatt lower than 2024 despite continuing customer growth. He attributed the difference primarily to milder overnight temperatures and fewer extreme heat hours, which reduced cooling‑degree days and overall summer load.
"The 2025 peak was about a megawatt overall less than the 2024," Speaker 2 said while walking through long‑term load graphs and temperature comparisons. He noted that, had 2025 seen temperature patterns like 2024, the peak would likely have matched the higher projections in the study.
The report summarized generation contributions across the regional system — including local generation and remote solar arrays that feed through Iron County — and showed the county forecast just under 700 megawatts for the next planning year. Speaker 2 cautioned that those projections are highly weather dependent and that multi‑year plateaus with intermittent step increases are common.
The board also received an operations update about a major outage at the NEBO power plant. Speaker 2 said the steam turbine suffered extensive damage and will require rebuilding of most turbine stages; as a result, the plant will be partially offline until roughly April or May. "The steam turbine itself had base I think there's 18 stages and all but 1 of them has to be rebuilt," Speaker 2 said when describing the repairs. He added the plant's combustion‑turbine generator was returned to service during the meeting, providing partial capacity.
To cover capacity while repairs proceed, staff arranged a temporary 3‑megawatt purchase beginning the day prior to the meeting and extending through the repair period. Speaker 2 said the utility is working with its insurer and that the insurance company "will cover the majority of the costs." The board did not take a formal vote related to procurement during the meeting; the purchase was described as an operational arrangement taken by staff.
Speaker 2 also noted a regional reliability milestone: late October closures of a 138‑kV loop between Rocky Mountain, UAMPS, St. George and Dixie that should reduce the risk of widespread outages if a single line fails. He characterized the change as a substantial reliability improvement that required years of agreements and infrastructure work.
The board did not change rates or adopt formal policy during the discussion. Staff said the NEBO steam‑turbine repairs and the temporary purchases are being managed as operational matters; additional updates were promised as repair schedules and insurance determinations firm up. The Power Board adjourned with its next meeting set for Jan. 6, 2026.
