Southwest Power Pool Releases Reliability Impact Study Of EPA Regs

Little Rock-based electricity transmission coordinator Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has released a reliability impact assessment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed Clean Power Plan. The study indicates not enough time is allowed to compensate for projected generation-unit retirements nor to build the transmission infrastructure necessary to maintain system reliability.

“The assessment’s findings make it very clear new generation and transmission expansion will be necessary from a reliability perspective,” said Lanny Nickell, SPP’s vice president of engineering. “SPP’s focus is first and foremost on reliability. The final rule adopted by the EPA should ensure that electric utilities will be able to continue to provide reliable service.”

The EPA regulation would cut existing power-plant carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 30% by 2030. Currently, Arkansas environmental and utility regulators are studying the potential impact in conjunction with various stakeholders with an interest in the new rule. Eventually, a state or regional plan to try to comply with the EPA edict will be submitted.

“If the CPP compliance period begins before generation and adequate infrastructure can be added, the SPP region will face a significant loss of load and violations of regulatory reliability standards,” Nickell said. He also noted it can take up to 8.5 years to plan, design, and build the transmission infrastructure necessary to meet changing generation resources.

According to the impact assessment, SPP’s transmission system could face severe overloads that will lead to cascading outages.

In comments SPP has filed with the EPA, SPP recommends:

• A series of technical conferences jointly sponsored by the EPA and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, focused on the CPP’s impacts on regional markets and power-system reliability;
• A detailed, comprehensive, and independent study of the North American bulk power system conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation before the EPA adopts its final rules;
• Extending the CPP’s compliance schedule by at least five years; and
• Adoption of the ISO/RTO Council’s “reliability safety valve.”

SPP represents 78 utility and utility-related organizations in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Its footprint serves more than 15 million customers.