Reliable Electric Infrastructure
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
April 5: Program scheduled by Dan Leuschen
April 12: Karen Trusler and Stephanie Watson--State of the Schools
April 19: Mom's Inc.
April 26: Melody Mesmer--Emergency Management Educator and Children's Advocate
PROGRAM
Our speaker last week was well known to many in the club. It was former County Commissioner, Mike Geile. Geile is a fellow Rotarian from the Downtown Greeley club. Several years ago he was asked to set on a committee formed by the state legislature. This group was a task force on reliable electric infrastructure. He said they were charged with presenting a report to the legislature by November 1, 2006.
He talked about the deficit of 26,000 megawatts in the area. By area, he was referring to the western states which basically include everything west of the eastern Colorado border, and parts of SW Canada. He commented that as it relates to electrical production vs. use, California is a great sucking hole. Arizona is also deficient. He said that the California deficit will be about 4900 megawatts by 2014.
The task force also found that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission was not a participant in the original planning meeting. He also said that Colorado is the only state where local governments have control over the siting of power facilities. Geile thinks this works better because of local understanding of needs and the ability to work faster to approve applications.
Geile said the wind plant at Grover produces 300 megawatts from 300 towers/generators. The original cost was about $1 million per tower, but costs have now risen to $1.5 million each. He also said there is an estimated $1.8 to 1.9 billion to construct the necessary transmission facilities, but he expects that number to go to $3 billion before all current plans are built. He said that Wyoming formed a public/private authority to build transmission lines so that they can sell more of their massive energy available in the state. The TOT 3 project, for example, will allow them to wheel large amounts of power to Colorado.
QUIZ ANSWER
Radioactive half life refers to the time it takes for 1/2 of the radioactivity to dissipate. I have used the example of: Assume you have $1 million with a "half-life" of 1 year. At the end of the first year, you will have $500,000. During the second year, you will also loose 50% of your remaining fortune. So, at the end of the second year, you will have $250,000. You can see where this is going. Just don't use this as an investment strategy.
NEXT QUESTION
What "futuristic" car did Michael J. Fox drive in the movie "Back to the Future"?
April 5: Program scheduled by Dan Leuschen
April 12: Karen Trusler and Stephanie Watson--State of the Schools
April 19: Mom's Inc.
April 26: Melody Mesmer--Emergency Management Educator and Children's Advocate
PROGRAM
Our speaker last week was well known to many in the club. It was former County Commissioner, Mike Geile. Geile is a fellow Rotarian from the Downtown Greeley club. Several years ago he was asked to set on a committee formed by the state legislature. This group was a task force on reliable electric infrastructure. He said they were charged with presenting a report to the legislature by November 1, 2006.
He talked about the deficit of 26,000 megawatts in the area. By area, he was referring to the western states which basically include everything west of the eastern Colorado border, and parts of SW Canada. He commented that as it relates to electrical production vs. use, California is a great sucking hole. Arizona is also deficient. He said that the California deficit will be about 4900 megawatts by 2014.
The task force also found that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission was not a participant in the original planning meeting. He also said that Colorado is the only state where local governments have control over the siting of power facilities. Geile thinks this works better because of local understanding of needs and the ability to work faster to approve applications.
Geile said the wind plant at Grover produces 300 megawatts from 300 towers/generators. The original cost was about $1 million per tower, but costs have now risen to $1.5 million each. He also said there is an estimated $1.8 to 1.9 billion to construct the necessary transmission facilities, but he expects that number to go to $3 billion before all current plans are built. He said that Wyoming formed a public/private authority to build transmission lines so that they can sell more of their massive energy available in the state. The TOT 3 project, for example, will allow them to wheel large amounts of power to Colorado.
QUIZ ANSWER
Radioactive half life refers to the time it takes for 1/2 of the radioactivity to dissipate. I have used the example of: Assume you have $1 million with a "half-life" of 1 year. At the end of the first year, you will have $500,000. During the second year, you will also loose 50% of your remaining fortune. So, at the end of the second year, you will have $250,000. You can see where this is going. Just don't use this as an investment strategy.
NEXT QUESTION
What "futuristic" car did Michael J. Fox drive in the movie "Back to the Future"?
posted by Windsor Rotary Club (link to this post)
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