Powerful Living Powerful Living
Let the waters fl ow W
Hydropower generation benefi ts Oklahoma communities
ater, a vital and prevailing source of life, is also a powerful energy force. In the 1930s, state pioneers had a vision of how water could be used
to power Oklahoma communities. Their vision came to fruition in 1935 with the creation of a state-owned utility, the Grand River Dam Author- ity (GRDA), based in Vinita, Okla. The Pensacola Dam, Oklahoma’s fi rst hydroelectric plant and GRDA’s fi rst project, was completed in March 1940, following a two-year construction period that employed 3,000 workers. Simultaneously, rural visionary leaders banded together to bring electrifi cation to Oklahoma’s farms and sparsely populated areas; they were empowered by the Rural Electrifi cation Act of 1936. Northeast Okla- homa Electric Cooperative (NEOEC), based in Vinita, is one of GRDA’s longest-standing cus- tomers. In 2015, the Pensacola Dam completes its 75th anniversary of powering Oklahomans; and for nearly 75 years, NEOEC has been a part of GRDA’s story. “GRDA was part of the rural electrifi cation project the co-ops were created to address. One of our oldest relationships is with Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative. Our relation- ship with Western Farmers Electric Cooperative allows GRDA electricity to touch a vast part of Oklahoma that we would not touch otherwise,” Dan Sullivan, GRDA’s chief executive offi cer, said. “The mission of public power is the same as cooperative organizations, to serve our neighbors in a cost-effective manner.” Today, GRDA’s service stretches into 75 of
Oklahoma’s 77 counties; this extended service is possible through a wholesale power purchase agreement with Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, a generation and transmission co- operative based in Anadarko, Okla. KAMO Power, a generation and transmission
6
cooperative based in Vinita, has had a long-stand- ing relationship with GRDA as a transmission provider and partner in sharing ownership of generating assets. GRDA sells wholesale power to municipalities and electric cooperatives, and provides retail power to some industries. In addition, the utility serves customers in Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. Funded from electric and water sales, GRDA serves approximately 500,000 homes and manages 70,000 surface acres of lakes in the state. To meet Oklahoma’s ever-growing energy needs, GRDA owns an integrated electric generation and transmission system that utilizes coal, natu- ral gas, wind and hydro resources. However, its groundwork began with water.
Hydroelectric Resources The Pensacola Dam is located near Langley,
Okla. In 2003, the dam was listed in the National Registry of Historical Places. It displays a unique architectural design with 51 arches garnishing a bridge that connects the towns of Langley and Disney. The matchless design was skillfully ac- complished during a time when materials were scarce, but manpower was plentiful in Great Depression years. The dam holds back 46,500 acres of water that form Grand Lake. The Pensacola Dam has six units with a combined generation capacity of approximately 120 mega- watts (MW). These units are automatically con- trolled from a control room located at the Robert S. Kerr Dam.
Also known as the Markham Ferry Project, the
Robert S. Kerr Dam is located north of Locust Grove, Okla., and was built in 1964. The Kerr Dam forms Lake Hudson; it operates four units producing a combined total capacity of 114 MW. In an effort to reach greater effi ciencies, the
By Anna Politano
Salina Pumped Storage Project, Oklahoma’s only pumped storage facility located southeast of Salina, Okla., was built in the late ‘60s. Pumped storage technology works in a similar way as a battery. The facility keeps water in reserve for peak period power demands by pumping water back to a storage pool at night; this water is re- used, after already having fl owed through tur- bines to generate electricity. GRDA’s hydro resources currently account for approximately 18 percent of its electric generation mix. In addition to GRDA’s hydro resources,
Oklahoma’s rural electric cooperatives benefi t from hydropower sources that are maintained and operated by the Southwestern Power Administration, a federal agency operating under the umbrella of the Department of Energy. As a result of the Flood Control Act of 1944, Southwestern’s power is marketed and delivered mostly to rural electric cooperatives and munic- ipal utilities.
Hydropower: The Works Electricity is generated by harnessing the power of falling water. To reach this goal, dams are typ- ically constructed on a sizeable river that has a steep drop in elevation. The dam stores water in the reservoir. At the bottom of the dam wall there are water intakes, which are structures designed to release stored water. With the force of gravity, the water falls through penstocks (enclosed pipes), where a turbine propeller resides with a metal shaft that goes up to a generator. In a com- parable way to coal-fi red generation, in which steam is used to turn the turbine, the moving force of the water turns the propeller-like turbine. The shaft from the turbine goes up into a gener- ator, which ultimately produces electricity. The fi nal step in the hydro generation process occurs
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150