Council’s Corner

Like You I’m Concerned About Power Rates & Availability

Washington City continues to experience significant growth. The peak load on the City’s power system increased by over 13% for each of the last two years. Carbon emissions from power generation resources are under scrutiny at both the state and federal level.  Finding economical wholesale resources to meet this rapid increase in load and minimizing carbon emissions is a formidable task for the City. Washington City is participating in existing and future renewable resources such as wind, and solar as well as other technologies such as heat recovery and carbon capture. While these resources play an important role in the City’s needs, additional resources that are dispatchable are available 24/7. Nuscale Power has created a new kind of nuclear power plant to be sited at locations closer to where electricity is needed. To address future needs Washington City is participating in the UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). This project is based on a new small modular reactor (SMR) and will be located outside of Idaho Falls at the Idaho National Laboratory. The cities pricing of the power from the project is $58/MWh which is comparable to a gas fired combined cycle turbine plant. The CFPP will utilize a Nuscale SMR. The Nuscale design incorporates built- in safety features that does not require operator action or an outside power source to cool the core in the event of an issue at the plant. I recently visited the Nuscale facility in Corvallis, Oregon and witnessed first hand the science, efficiency, safety and applicability in addressing our city energy needs. As your councilman it is my responsibility to explore every option available to address our cities increasing power needs and cost. I am confident that this project will gain full approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and will become the answer to many questions in addressing growth needs and affordability, not only in Washington but throughout the world. For additional information visit cfppllc.com

 –Kurt Ivie, Washington City Council

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