Generator_Spring 2023_Final

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While the forecast is generally accurate, the real-time energy market can still change every minute. Because prices are so volatile, there are times where Loup generates electricity into a negative market and loses money. Loup must put the promised amount of electricity onto SPP’s grid. If conditions change and Loup cannot meet that promise, we must buy it back at the real-time price. Another hurdle to generation planning is compliance with Loup’s license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. License restrictions state that Loup must ensure minimum water flows in the bypass reach (the portion of the Loup River from the diversion weir to 1 its meeting with the Platte River). The District is also limited to a maximum diversion of 2,000 cubic feet per second from March 1 to June 7. But the operators’ duties don’t end there. The Columbus Powerhouse serves as an after-hours call center. Operators reconnect customers, take payments, answer outage calls and dispatch line technicians to those outages. They also monitor Loup’s substations and their security with the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Loup’s five Powerhouse Operators —Baxa, Jamie Held, Blane Konwinski, Justin Kohl, and Tony Miller — handled all these duties with success last year. 2 Prior to 2022, Loup sold its energy generation to NPPD and was paid for each kilowatt hour based on a formula tied to the average cost of NPPD’s generating facilities. In their first year navigating the SPP market, the operators beat the generation revenue forecast by nearly $1.5 million and did so with less water than the previous year. But the operators are quick to point out that the success is due in large part to their fellow employees at the Headworks and those on the canal crew. Headworks employees operate the intake gates, diverting as much water as possible based on river conditions and license restrictions. They, too, constantly monitor the water levels and alert the operators to any changes. The canal crew employees help maintain the canal system, ensuring that everything is working properly. And together, they made certain that their calculated risk paid off. Loup Power District generates electricity at its powerhouses in Monroe and Columbus. NPPD — Loup’s wholesale energy provider — bids the electricity (along with its own) into SPP’s wholesale energy market, competing against other generators. 3 5 SPP selects the lowest-cost resources based on fuel and variable operation and maintenance costs. Loup purchases energy from NPPD to serve customers. 4 10 | GENERATOR NPPD buys energy back from SPP to serve customers, including Loup, at a market price.
What is the Southwest Power Pool? Our lives depend on electricity, but most of us have no idea how many people, machines, and complex processes work together around the clock, every day of the year to ensure the reliable supply of cost-effective power. The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is a major player in this process. Even so, the organization remained largely unknown by the public until the February 2021 winter storm that impacted more than 170 million Americans. SPP is a regional transmission organization (RTO) based in Little Rock, Ark. It manages the bulk electric grid, operates a wholesale electric market, and plans transmission on behalf of utilities and transmission companies. Like air-traffic controllers — who don’t own the planes they direct, the skies they monitor, or the airports that serve as travel hubs — SPP doesn’t own power plants or transmission lines, but instead directs the regional bulk power grid to ensure that electricity gets from where it’s made to where it’s needed. Back in February 2021, historic cold temperatures caused massive consumption of heat and power, straining the electric grid. To preserve that grid and prevent catastrophic failures, SPP implemented rolling blackouts for the first time in its 80-year history. Nebraska Public Power District is Loup’s wholesale power provider and has been a member of SPP since 2009. In turn, Loup is a member of SPP. While customers throughout the state and Midwest were frustrated by the blackouts, the event also highlighted the benefit of SPP membership. SPP’s members all shared energy during the crisis, directing it to where it was needed the most. This helped minimize impacts to any one entity. Those short energy curtailments prevented the grid from cascading out of control like it did in Texas. That state suffered a major power crisis when the winter storm hit. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were without power — some for several days — because electric utilities in state failed to winterize power sources like wind turbines and natural gas infrastructure. In addition, Texas’ power grid is not connected to national grids, so it was difficult to import excess energy from other states during the storm. Nebraska would have potentially been in the same situation if it maintained its own power grid, for example. Although the state generates plenty of power, we rely on our neighbors for help when sustained weather events — extreme heat or cold — spike the amount of power we consume. The arrangement also saves utilities —including NPPD and Loup — money at the end of the day. Overall, SPP’s services provided members $2.7 billion in net benefits in 2021 at a benefit-to-cost ratio of 18-to-1. THE SPP REGION 552,885 square mile service territory More than 18 million people 949 generating plants 5,180 substations SPRING <strong>2023</strong> | 11
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Page 5 and 6: GHW SETTLING BASIN BANK WORK The Ge
Page 7 and 8: $ HOW MUCH HOW MUCH ENERGY DO HEAT
Page 9: A TEAM Left: Plant Operator Justin
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Page 15 and 16: REY JARECKI Carpenter/Utility Carpe

Generator_Spring 2023_Final

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