Pub. 6 2016 Issue 1

24 AT THE CENTER OF UTAH INDUSTRY T he story of the Intermountain Power Project is a story of unprecedented cooperation. Developed by 36 participants with operations touching seven states, the Project involves people from all walks of life. Most of the participants – 29 to be exact – are cities and towns that operate their own electric utilities. Those municipalities range in population from 254 in rural Utah to 3.9 million in southern California. Working together, this diverse group has successfully man- aged a Project that has operated continuously since 1986 and consumed more than 100 million tons of Utah coal. Along the way, it has produced reliable, cost-effective electricity for mil- lions of consumers and served as an economic cornerstone for rural Utah. Founded in the ‘70s Energy Boom IPP’s developers in the 1970s envisioned a Project that would serve as an economic engine for the State of Utah. That vision has been realized over 30 years of operations that have sup- ported Utah coal producers, created high paying jobs in rural areas of the state, and provided Utah municipalities and rural electric cooperatives access to low cost electricity generated at enormous economies of scale. Key to this success is the inclusion of project participants who consume large amounts of electricity. Six municipalities locat- ed in Southern California – Los Angeles, Anaheim, Riverside, Pasadena, Burbank, and Glendale – are entitled to just under 75 percent of the electricity generated at IPP. But through a unique agreement that allows Utah project participants to “lay off” their entitlements to the California cities, those participants have actually consumed around 99 percent of the electricity generated by the project over its history. This arrangement provided two major benefits to Utah com- munities. First, it allowed development of the project at a scale far beyond what could have been supported by Utah partici- pants alone. Second, it provided Utah electricity consumers with a low cost electricity supply option that is available if needed. In recent years, that option has become valuable to some of the larger Utah cities participating in IPP as growth in their communities has prompted them to call back some of the electricity they are entitled to. One of the West’s Largest Power Projects The Intermountain Power Project includes much more than a power plant. IPP includes a two-unit, 1,800-megawatt coal- fueled generating station located near Delta, Utah, two major electricity transmission systems, a microwave communication system, and a railcar service center. The Southern Transmis- Intermountain Power Project Aims to Remain a Cornerstone of Utah’s Economy The Intermountain Generating Station near Delta, Utah, is connected to the region’s electricity grid by two large Project-owned transmission systems.