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Archive for the ‘Coal Plants’ Category

A little bit of rain, a little less drought?

Posted in Coal Plants, Global Warming, Nuclear Plants, Water, tagged , on February 10, 2012 |

drought monitor Feb 7, 2012While only 23 percent of Texas remains under “exceptional” drought, 90% of the state is still under some level of drought in spite of the recent rains many parts of the state have experienced.  But we can’t get cocky, as the U.S. seasonal drought outlook indicates most of Texas can expect the drought to persist or intensify through April of this year.  If we are lucky, the next outlook won’t be so dire as we head toward another Texas summer, hopefully not like our last one.

Drought Outlook thru April, 2012

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Bill would give Oklahomans the right to vote on sale of water to Texas

Posted in Coal Plants, Water, tagged , , on January 18, 2012 |

As Texas struggles to determine how they will meet their water needs in the face of what could be an extended 5 to 10 year period of drought, Oklahomans are looking to protect their water rights as their neighbors to the south look on lustfully.

An Associated Press story says proposed legislation by two Oklahoma state lawmakers would require a statewide vote of the people before any out-of-state sale of Oklahoma water. Sen. Jerry Ellis of Valliant and Rep. Eric Proctor of Tulsa said the legislation, dubbed “The People’s Water Act”, would give Oklahomans the final say in deals with other states.

The Tarrant Regional Water District has waged a multi-year legal battle to obtain water from Oklahoma that has so far been unsuccessful. Ellis, who is based in water-rich Southeastern Oklahoma has been one of the most vocal opponents of water sales to Texas and said the future of Oklahoma water should not be decided in private meetings between politicians and Texans.

In the 1870s to 1881 recurrent friction and eventual violent conflict over water rights in the vicinity of Tularosa, New Mexico, involving villagers, ranchers, and farmers were well documented.  As the region deals with this extended drought, which some say could be the region’s new norm, could we be looking at more conflicts over water, not only along groundwater sources inside the state, between industrials, urban areas and agriculutural regions, but between Texas and its neighbors?

Read more here: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/politex/2012/01/bill-would-give-oklahomans-the-right-to-vote-on-any-texas-water-sale.html#storylink=cpy

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Drought and coal-fired power plants don’t mix

Posted in Coal Plants, Utilities, Water, tagged , , , on November 29, 2011 |

According to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), at the end of summer 2011, Texas had suffered the driest 10 months since record keeping began in 1895.  Rivers, like the Brazos, actually dried up.

And if that wasn’t enough, the dry weather came with brutal heat.  So brutal, that seven cities recorded at least 80 days above 100°F (Austin logged 90 days and Wichita Falls had 100 days over 100°F, 12 of which were over 110°F).  This left air conditioners around the state straining to keep up, shattering records for the state’s electricity demand, topping 68,000 megawatts in early August. This combination of dry weather and excessive heat, and high electric demand suddenly made state planners begin to take notice of the water-intensive nature of coal plants.

Most electricity power plants require large amounts of water. Coal-fired plants alone account for 67 percent of freshwater withdrawals by the power sector and for 65 percent of the water completely consumed by it. Newer plants include air-cooling or “dry cooling” technologies, but so many plants rely on water-cooling that they accounted for 41 percent of the withdrawals of freshwater in the United States in 2005, according to the United States Geological Survey.

In Texas this summer, one plant had to curtail nighttime operations because the drought had reduced the amount of water available and that which was available was too hot to bring down the temperature of water discharged from the plant. In East Texas, other plant owners had to bring in water from other rivers so they could continue to operate and meet demand for electricity.

Proposed plants were also facing scrutiny around their water use.  The White Stallion coal plant, near Bay City south of Houston, was opposed by a wide variety of Colorado River water users and the LCRA ended up pulling the proposed plant’s 25,000 acre-feet/year water permit from its agenda indefinitely. Citizens of Sweetwater in west Texas were outraged upon hearing that the city was secretly negotiating sale of water rights for a so-called clean coal project.

If the drought persists into the following year (and the State Climatologist has predicted that it is likely much of the state will still be in severe drought through next August with even worse water shortages), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT – the operators of the electricity grid) has warned that power cuts on the scale of thousands of megawatts are possible.

Texas Water Development Board warns that the state’s water shortage is structural. A structural water shortage is a permanent water shortage that can only be addressed through a structural change such as a reduction in agriculture, population or firm water users (such as traditional power plants) or, increasing water supplies by creating lakes (like we did after the 1950s multi-year drought), setting up desalination plants on the coast or piping water in from another state.  All of these options are dramatic and expensive.

As of this writing, the state needs 18 million acre-feet of water, and it has 17 million acre-feet available to it. By 2060, the state is expected to need 22 million acre-feet but only have 15.3 million acre-feet available to it. Because some dry areas simply can’t have water piped, the total shortfall is projected to be 8.3 million acre-feet. Roughly, Texans will have 2 gallons of water available for every 3 gallons they need.

Adding new coal plants or other intense water use generators to this mix is not part of a sane water policy for a state facing a structural water shortage.  Even ERCOT is taking a closer look at coastal wind generation and solar to provide power during peak energy periods (You know, that time of the day – from 3 to 6 or 7 pm – when the temperatures are the hottest and the air conditioners strain to keep us cool).  This current weather pattern may be the push the state needs to move toward a new energy future for the state.

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Texas Senator Troy Fraser focuses on the energy industry’s water use

Posted in Coal Plants, Nuclear Plants, Water, tagged , , , , on November 4, 2011 |

According to the Texas Energy Report, Senate Natural Resources Committee Chairman Troy Fraser, called the energy industry a bit too “thirsty” during a record one-year drought, and warned the oil and gas companies to ramp up the recycling of water consumed during hydraulic fracturing.

Currently much of the chemical-laced water and sand that Texas companies blast into shale formations to release oil and gas is later pumped back underground for disposal.

“It’s going to be an issue next session. I continue to tell the industry they’ve got to get aggressive about water reuse,” Fraser, a Republican from Horseshoe Bay in the Central Texas Highland Lakes region, said during a joint interim hearing on drought held by the Natural Resources and the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees.

“In a drought situation, it’s starting to be a problem, a big problem in some areas,” Fraser added of the millions of gallons of water used in fracking. “I’ve been projecting for multiple months that this is coming and we’ve got a crisis out there.”

When asked about the water recovery program and how much water is being recovered from fracking, the industry representative responded that he did not have a specific number of how many companies recycle frack water but added that TXOGA has requested data from its members. He noted that while some companies do have significant recovery operations, others do not.

“Significant,”said Fraser. “That implies a lot.”  But the numbers from the industry were not there to back that implication up.

Fraser said he’d like to see more efficient water reclamation by cities, manufacturers and refiners as well, but he also took aim at the electric power industry.

“Long-term the power industry is going to hear me talking about figuring out a way to convert and get that technology,” he said. “We can’t continue to use the amount of water that we’ve used in the past. The way we are treating our water right now is not sustainable.”

John Fainter, president of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, said everyone in the state needs to learn more and do more about conserving and saving and reusing water, but he added a threat of his own.  “There is a cost, and the public needs to be aware of that, just like the environmental requirements we’re facing,” he said.

Click here to watch the hearing.

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Austin League of Women Voters – Texas Water Study: “Should Water Be Treated as a Commodity?”

Posted in Coal Plants, Nuclear Plants, Water, tagged , , , on October 31, 2011 |

The ongoing drought, extended high temperatures, and wildfires have increased the importance of state water studies. In light of the study by the State of Texas and the critical nature of our water issues, the League of Women Voters (LWV) Austin is sponsoring a meeting for its members and the public featuring an outstanding panel of water experts to speak on this topic. The panel will address approaches to managing Texas’ very valuable water resources.

When: Saturday,  November 5th
Coffee and Pastries, 9 a.m.
Panel, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Where: Ascension Lutheran Church Family Life Center
6420 Hart Lane,  Between 2222 and Far West Blvd., west of Balcones Dr.

 The meeting is free and open to the public.

This outstanding panel of speakers, all water professionals, will address water issues inTexas.

  • Carolyn Ahrens, Booth Ahrens Werkenthin Attorney – Water Marketing
  • David Meesey, Texas Water Development Board Water Planning – The Regional Planning Process
  • David Wheelock, LCRA, Manager of Water Supply and Conservation – Surface Water Supply
  • John Dupnik, Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District – Groundwater Management
  • Brian  Hunt, Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District – Groundwater Management and WaterModeling

You are strongly encouraged to read Facts and Issues: Should Water Be a Commodity?  from LWVTX prior to themeeting.  Click here to print out a copy.

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Continued Drought Concerns ERCOT for 2012

Posted in Coal Plants, Efficiency, Water, tagged , , , , , on October 19, 2011 |

The worst drought in more than 50 years in Texas is expected to continue as a weak La Nina weather pattern is predicted to strengthen this winter.  Drought has already reduced cooling water needed by coal-fired power plants and may limit electric output from power plants next summer, an official from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT – the grid operator)  reported.

At this time, only one small generating unit is currently curtailed due to a lack of adequate cooling water, however a continuation of the severe drought in Texas could result in as much as 3,000 MW being unavailable next summer, Kent Saathoff, vice president of ERCOT grid operations told the board last week.

The drought has lowered the water level at nearly every reservoir in the state, according to the Texas Water Development Board. A lack of cooling water limits the ability of a power plant to operate at full capacity.

Texas’ hottest summer on record pushed power consumption to record levels, straining the state’s electric resources on many days in August.

Grid officials and lawmakers are worried that the drought will compound existing issues that impact the state’s power supply: looming environmental regulations that will curtail output from coal-fired power plants and a lack of new power-plant investment.

ERCOT predicts about 434 megawatts would be unavailable next summer if Texas gets about half its normal rainfall over the winter and spring months and if there is no significant rainfall, as much as 3,000 MW could be unavailable by May.

Power plant owners are taking steps to increase access to cooling water by increasing pumping capacity, adding pipelines to alternate water sources and securing additional water rights.  Some water authorities have already curtailed new “firm” water contracts, so it may be harder for plants to secure additional water.

Right now, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is working to implement new energy efficiency legislation.  If we just used our energy more efficiently, we wouldn’t have come so close to a grid crisis even under the extreme circumstances of this past summer.  Other states have used energy efficiency to keep the lights on for their families and businesses when they were having problems by cutting energy demand by 20% or more on the hottest days of the summer.
Studies have shown that Texas could cut 23% of our peak energy use on the hottest days and it would be cheaper than generating electricity.
To prevent rolling blackouts next summer, the governor and the PUC could improve the energy efficiency and market-based conservation programs that will keep our air conditioning running on hot summer days and keep our local  businesses operating . 

The Texas Public Utility Commission should:

  • Reward utilities that exceed their energy efficiency goals.
  • Use the money from a program set up to provide utility assistance for eligible Texans that is funded by fee Texans pay on their electric bills every month for the weatherization of low-income homes.

And the governor can issue an executive order that requires all state agencies, schools, municipal and county governments to reduce energy use by 5% next summer and report their savings to the state.

You can email the governor and express your opinion by clicking here.

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From toilet water to tap water, the new liquid gold of West Texas

Posted in Coal Plants, Water, tagged , , , on August 12, 2011 |

So after years of diminishing water supplies made even worse by the second-most severe drought in state history, some West Texas communities are resorting to a plan to turn sewage into drinking water.

A water-reclamation plant believed to be the first in Texas will supply Big Spring, Midland, Odessa and Stanton and is currently under construction.

Officials have been working to dispel any fears people have that they will soon be drinking their neighbors’ urine.  They are promising the system will yield clean, safe water.

Similar plants have been operating for years in Tucson, Ariz., parts of California and in other countries. Water experts predict other American cities will follow suit as they confront growing populations, drought and other issues.

The Colorado River Municipal Water District in West Texas began considering a wastewater recycling plant back in 2000 and broke ground last month on the facility in Big Spring, about 100 miles southeast of Lubbock. When finished, it should supply 2 million gallons of water a day.

This year’s drought has made this dry region even drier, wreaking havoc on crops, ranch animals, wildlife and fish in the region.  At least one of the three reservoirs in West Texas may dry up if the drought persists through next year, as climatologists have predicted could happen, causing the district’s water supply to be reduced from 65 million gallons a day to 45 million.

The idea to recycle sewage isn’t new. Fort Worth and other cities across the nation have long used treated wastewater to water grass and trees and irrigate crops.

And you can be sure the proposed Tenaska coal plant in Abilene is hoping to cash in on that water after having been turned down by the city of Abilene.  However, after this year, this region might be reluctant to commit to providing that much water even if it is reclaimed from sewage.  Because power plants suck . . . lots and lots of water and they tend to get to do so before crops, livestock and even people.

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LCRA meeting in Bay City, July 28th at 6:30 pm

Posted in Coal, Coal Plants, Water, tagged , , , on July 20, 2011 |

According to a Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) press release, there will be a public meeting in Bay City on July 28th at 6:30 pm regarding the White Stallion water contract.

The Lower Colorado River Authority will hold a public information meeting in Bay City on Thursday, July 28, on a proposed water contract with White Stallion Energy Center. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Bay City Civic Center, 201 Seventh Street.

“LCRA recognizes how important this proposed water contract is to the public and we want to give everyone the opportunity to fully understand the proposed contract before the Board of Directors makes its final decision,” LCRA General Manager Becky Motal said.

The meeting will be structured to offer visitors multiple opportunities to ask LCRA staff about the proposed contract with White Stallion and related issues. The meeting will begin with a short video and presentation on the proposed contract. The public will then have an opportunity to visit with LCRA staff at stations set up for the following issues:

  • Water supply,
  • Proposed White Stallion contract,
  • Water quality and bay health, and
  • Lower basin reservoir.

During the meeting, visitors will be encouraged to submit written questions for a panel question and answer session. The panel will feature LCRA Water Operations Manager Kyle Jensen, LCRA Manager of Water Resources Management Karen Bondy and LCRA Water Supply Strategist James Kowis.

White Stallion has requested 25,400 acre-feet of water a year from LCRA for a power plant in Matagorda County. As a legislatively created regional water supplier, if LCRA has water available to meet a request for supply and an applicant complies with LCRA’s rules, LCRA must make that water available and cannot unreasonably discriminate. LCRA has the water available for White Stallion’s request, even in the current drought conditions.

Because of the size of the request, LCRA has developed a proposal designed to benefit the water supply system of the entire lower Colorado River basin. Under the terms of the proposed contract, White Stallion must pay LCRA $55 million within one year of the contract date. That money must be used for water supply enhancements. LCRA intends to use this payment for:

  • Pumping plant improvements at LCRA’s Bay City pumping plant;
  • A 5,000 acre-foot off-channel reservoir in the lower basin that can serve White Stallion and other customers; and
  • A study to determine the best configuration of water supply projects and enhancements and where they will be located. This could include options like lining canals to save water.

In addition to routine raw water use and reservation rates, White Stallion would also pay $250,000 per year from the date the plant is completed through the end of the contract. These additional funds would be used for future water supply projects. White Stallion also plans to have additional water storage on its plant site capable of storing a week’s worth of the plant’s water use.

Under these terms, once the new reservoir is constructed, LCRA should be able to supply White Stallion without impacting the Highland Lakes or water for agriculture. The new reservoir and future water projects made possible by this contract would also benefit other customers throughout the basin.

“The job of LCRA’s staff was to develop the best water contract it could, and we believe we accomplished that,” Motal said. “This proposed contract is intended to offset the impact of White Stallion to the Highland Lakes and the downstream farmers and also benefits the water supply system of the entire basin.”

A copy of the proposed contract is available at LCRA.org. The LCRA Board will consider the proposed contract August 10.

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LCRA meeting in Bay City on the White Stallion Energy Center water contract

Posted in Coal Plants, Water, tagged , , , , , on July 16, 2011 |

At LCRA’s Board of Directors meeting on June 15, 2011, they discussed a contract to sell up to 25,400 acre-feet of water a year to White Stallion Energy Center for a power plant in Matagorda County.  The LCRA Boardroom was filled with citizens against the contract, and the board heard public comments with 30 signing up to speak, only 2 of whom spoke for the contract.  Matagorda County Judge, Nate McDonald, asked the LCRA board to table the item and take more time to determine the impact a water contract of this size would have on the area.  Board members then voted to defer a decision on the contract until its meeting scheduled for August 10.

Because of the size of the request, LCRA staff has developed a proposal that will address the water supply of the entire lower Colorado River basin.  Read the proposed draft water contract and fact sheet.

A meeting has been scheduled in Bay City, on July 28th, we have no additional details about that meeting at this point.

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In the midst of water restrictions, tiny Stamford sells its water to the highest bidder

Posted in Coal, Coal Plants, Water, tagged , , , , on July 12, 2011 |

Last week,  Governor Rick Perry issued a proclamation certifying that certain counties in Texas are currently threatened by exceptional drought conditions and an extreme fire hazard due to a continuing disaster in several counties in Texas, including Jones and Haskell Counties, which the small town of Stamford straddles.

Water Restrictions in Texas at the beginning of July

Located 40 miles north of Abilene with a population just over 3,000, Stamford’s city council voted today to sell water to the proposed Tenaska coal-fired plant. It is expected that Stamford would provide about 780,000 gallons (or roughly three-quarters of the minimum amount of water needed by the plant) daily from Lake Stamford, a reservoir formed by Stamford Dam with a storage capacity of 51,573 acre·ft.  The average depth of Lake Stamford is only 11 feet. The 2011 Brazos G Water Plan (Vol. 1, p. 4A-7) projects Stamford will have a deficit of nearly 3,000 acre-feet a year by 2030 without the Tenaska contract.

There was no public hearing before the City Council voted, and there were some people present who disagreed with the decision.

Last night, Tenaska hosted an open house.  Over a hundred people showed up, the majority of whom were opposed to the water contract, and while some members of the city council and the mayor were present, they still chose to approve the water contract.

 

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Heat and drought; what’s a state to do?

Posted in Climate Change, Coal Plants, Nuclear Plants, Water, tagged , , , on July 11, 2011 |

We’ve blogged numerous times about the persistent heat and drought plaguing the Southern Plains (particularly Texas) this year. Much of Texas is off a June that ranks among the top five hottest in history. According to the National Climatic Data Center, Texas had their hottest June on record and of the six record hottest June cities, 5 were in Texas.

  • Record hottest June in Texas, surpassing June 1953!
  • Record hottest June cities: Lubbock, Midland, San Angelo, Houston, Galveston, Wichita Falls, and Columbus, Ga.

There has been no letup in July so far and the number of days with 100-degree temperatures continues to climb. Since the beginning of June to the beginning of July, Texas has seen the highest levels of drought — rated as “exceptional” — jump from  50.65 percent of the state to 72 percent of the state.

Dallas, Texas

  • 16 100-degree days through July 10 —the annual average is 18 days;
  • Most 100-degree days in a year: 69 in 1980.

Austin, Texas

  • 27 100-degree days through July 10 —more than double the annual average of 12 days;
  • Most 100-degree days in a year: 69 in 1925.

Even if you don’t believe in anthropogenic climate change, the last 10 years have been the hottest in the last 440,000 years, at least if the Vostok and Greenland ice cores are any indication.  And whether or not you think we can mitigate global warming, here in Texas we need to carefully consider one of our state’s most precious resources, WATER!

So when industries, like coal-fired power plants, nuclear plants, natural gas fracking – to name a few that use large amounts of water, are about to sign contracts with the water districts, or river authorities, we should all show up and demand that they show us we indeed will have water available for the people who live in the area.

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