Utility generation, electric

Table 9. Fuel for Electric Utility Generation of Electricity 1970—1990, kW h x 10 ...

Figure 5. Estimated annual fossil fuel requirements for electric utility generation...

Electric utility generating stations rely heavily on plant engineers to maintain equipment and facilities under adverse conditions. 

The 1990 Clean Air Act amendment (CAAA) further reduced SO2 emissions to 50% of their 1980 levels by the year 2000, and caps SO2 emissions at that level. The new standards not only affect new sources, but also require a constant total emissions allowed from all electric utility generation rmits of 8.1 x 10 metric tons of SO2 per year. The Act contains provisions for trading of emission allowances among units in order to achieve the most econorrrical application of control technologies. 

Environmental Protection Agency. Standards of performance for greenhouse gas emissions for new stationary sources electric utility generating units. Federal Register 77 26476 (2012). Federal Docket Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0660. 

FIGURE 37.2 (a) Weekly load curve of electric-utility generation mix with energy storage. b) Test regime typical of frequency regulation and spinning reserve application fcr electric utilities. (Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories. See Ref. 4.)... 

Electric Power Generation. Hydrothermal steam and hot water resources having temperatures ia excess of about 150°C are generaHy suitable for the production of electricity (see Eig. 3a). Because electricity is easy to market and transport, it is the only product of hydrothermal energy which permits the resource to be utilized at some distance from its actual location. 

Table 1. Estimated Emissions from Fossil-Fueled Steam-Electric Generating Units at U.S. Electric Utilities, 10 t ...

Not all of the gas is wasted. About 300 MW of electricity is generated from landfills. A variety of electric generation systems have been employed by a small number of developers. Most projects use simple technology and are small (2—10 MW). However, an EPRI study has estimated that landfill gas resources in the United States could support 6,000 MW of generation if utilized in 2-MW-sized carbonate fuel cells. Constmction on the world s first utihty-scale direct carbonate fuel cell demonstration was begun in California. If successful, EPRI estimates that precommercial 3-MW plants based on this design could become available by the end of this decade at an installed cost of 17,000/kW. 

Electric Power Generation. Coal is the primary fuel for thermal electric power generation. Since 1940 the quantity of bituminous coal consumed by electric utilities has grown substantially in each successive decade, and this growth is expected to continue for many years. Coal consumed by electric utilities increased from about 536 x 10 t in 1981 to 689 x 10 t in 1989 (2). The reasons for increased coal demand include availability, relative stability of decreasing coal prices, and lack of problems with spent fuel disposal as experienced in nuclear power plants (see Nuclearreactors). 

Fossil-Fuel-Fired Steam Generators for Which Construction Commenced after August 17, 1971 Electric Utility Steam Generating Units for Which Construction Commenced after September 18, 1978... 

The United States generates about 20 million metric tons of nitrogen oxides per year, about 40% of which is emitted from mobile sources. Of the 11 million to 12 million metric tons of nitrogen oxides that originate from stationary sources, about 30% is the result of fuel combustion in large industrial furnaces and 70% is from electric utility furnaces. 

For much of their history, electric utilities in the United States promoted new uses of power in order to increase their sales and thus their profits. However, during the 1970s, the dramatic rise in world oil prices and growing concern about the environmental impacts of electricity generation (especially... 

Electric power systems can be thought of as being comprised of three important sectors generation, transmission, and distribution. For most utilities, generation capital equipment costs account for approximately 50 percent of total plant in costs. Generation also accounts for close to 75 percent of total operation and maintenance expense. 

In the past, electric utilities dispatched generating units to meet demand on a lowest-to-highest cost basis. This form of dispatch is commonly referred to as economic dispatch. The marginal or incremental cost of dispatching units is traditionally the benchmark used to rank order available generators. These marginal costs, m the very short run, are typically... 

The advent of competition has virtually transformed the industry in evei y aspect, including its name. In the not too recent past, the industry was referred to as the electric utility industry. Today, given its significantly wide and numerous participants, it is more appropriate to refer to the industry as the electric power industry. This new power industry has new power generation and sales participants with names such as qualifying facilities, exempt wholesale generators, merchant facilities, small power production facilities, power marketers, and sales aggregators. 

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