General

Proactive measures help OPPD ensure reliable power through summer heat

Like utilities across our region and the nation, Omaha Public Power District is experiencing unprecedented demand. That means taking added steps to prepare for the hot summer ahead, when air conditioners are running their hardest.

“Electricity usage, which once increase by about four megawatts (MW) annually, is now increasing at a rate of 100 MW a year. That’s incredible,” said Chris Angland, OPPD’s director of Grid Operations.

“We expect to see that kind of demand for the foreseeable future, as technology becomes a greater part of our lives,” he said. “We need to ensure we have the generation our customers need, when they need it most, which is why we spend a great deal of time with resource planning year-round.”

Diverse resource mix

Part of resource planning, he said, is ensuring OPPD has a diverse energy portfolio. That way when one source isn’t available or cost-effective, the utility has other options.

Take for instance this past winter.

“As our area experienced a prolonged period of extreme cold, our coal plants along the Missouri River could not operate because of frozen water and equipment. Wind came through for us here and throughout our region,” Angland said.

OPPD benefits from being part of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), one of nine regional transmission organizations across the country. SPP comprises 111 member utilities in 14 states. Think of it as “air traffic control” for the high-voltage grid. It’s SPP’s job to balance supply and demand across the region it serves, maintain reliable grid operations, operate the wholesale energy market where utilities can buy and sell electricity as needed, and plan for future transmission needs.

“As OPPD and SPP bring more solar generation into their fleets, we anticipate that solar will help us deliver reliable  power on those hot summer days, when wind isn’t typically at its strongest,” Angland said.

“When neither solar nor wind are contributing enough to our system, or when market prices are high, we can lean on other forms of generation, like our natural gas balancing plants. And so on.”

OPPD continues to add generation to meet growing energy needs and will nearly double the district’s nameplate capacity, or maximum rated output, over the next decade, Angland.

“We are also working on ways to reduce energy demand among our residential, business, and commercial customers,” he said.

SPP confident about reliable power

SPP recently shared its outlook for energy usage this summer. Weather patterns are pointing to a hotter, drier summer than normal throughout most of our region, which means we may use more energy to keep our homes and businesses cool. Still, the organization reports it expects to have enough generation to meet energy demand.

“As a regional transmission organization, SPP’s top priority is to ensure reliability,” said Bruce Rew, SPP senior vice president of operations.

“We work with our member utilities to monitor the electric grid, maintain contingency plans, and collaborate during periods of operational challenges. While we anticipate no major concerns this summer, we are prepared for any circumstance,” he said.

“Despite a forecast of higher-than-normal temperatures, SPP is confident in our ability to keep the lights on for the 18 million people in our region.”

Summer forecast

SPP presented its summer forecast to stakeholders recently during its biannual Emergency Communications User Forum meeting. The assessment is used to identify and mitigate threats to energy reliability during the summer season, between June and September.

The assessment takes into consideration factors including historical and predicted future electricity use, weather forecasts, the variability of available wind energy, drought conditions, and planned generation and transmission maintenance outages.

According to SPP, meteorological models predict anywhere from a 33% to 50% chance of higher temperatures at varying levels within its footprint and similar chances for below normal rainfall in the region. Even with those factors, there is a 90% probability of SPP serving all loads during this summer’s peak usage hours.

If extreme weather or other circumstances affect the region, SPP has systems, tools and procedures ready to mitigate risks and maintain electric reliability. The grid operator could call on generating units to commit to run earlier or more often than usual, depending on the circumstances. It could also delay planned maintenance outages or import energy from neighboring systems. SPP also has the ability to tap into available energy reserves, depending on the severity and duration of events affecting energy reliability.

Delivering power

In addition to having an adequate and reliable power supply, OPPD also must ensure it can deliver that power to its customers. That’s where OPPD’s Transmission & Distribution work comes in.

“We conduct regular inspections and maintenance of our equipment – from our plants to our transmission and distribution system,” said Brian Kramer, Senior Director of Utility Operations, Construction & Maintenance. “We proactively replace equipment as needed.”

Howecver, there are still storms that pop up in the summer, with high winds, hail, lightning and even tornadoes. It’s already been a busy season for severe weather. That requires a different type of preparation.

“We hold storm drills that involve employees from across the company in order to continually improve upon our response to widespread power outages,” Kramer said. “And when severe weather is in the forecast, we hold over extra crews and support staff to ensure we have the people in place to quickly respond, if needed.”

Through careful planning, OPPD is as ready as it can be for what summer may have in store.

“We learn from each event we go through in order to continue to improve across all areas of the utility,” said Angland. “We have a passion to serve our customers. That’s why we do what we do.”