Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake Organizing Committee
Utah Power
Salt Lake City Corporation

Utah Power

As a 2002 Olympic Winter Games sponsor, Utah Power is powering 8 of the 10 Olympic competition venues.

Who we are

Utah Power and Light (UP&L) dates back to 1881 when Salt Lake City became the fifth city in the world to have central station electricity. Formed in 1912 from several small electric companies, UP&L became a subsidiary of Electric Bond and Share Company in New York. In 1989, Utah Power and Light was acquired by PacifiCorp, and continued doing business as Utah Power. In 1999, PacifiCorp merged with United Kingdom-based ScottishPower. PacifiCorp has more than 8,000 megawatts of generation capacity from coal and gas-fired plants, hydroelectric facilities, cogeneration, geothermal, solar and wind. Today, Utah Power, a ScottishPower company, provides reliable, low-cost electric service to more than 707,000 customers in Utah and southeast Idaho.

Utah Power’s sustainable efforts include investments in renewable energy generation, energy conservation programs and waste recycling and reuse. Utah Power also is a founding member of Natural Step, an international network of companies, agencies, non-government organizations, and individuals dedicated to building a sustainable society. As a ScottishPower company, Utah Power publishes an annual environmental report to discuss its progress in meeting its strategic environmental goals.

Renewable energy

Utah Power has strong commitments to produce renewable energy. By 2005, it aims to bring on line 1,000 megawatts (mw) of new wind and geothermal energy. The company also has solar energy projects in Oregon, Wyoming and Utah and more than 1,000 mw of hydroelectric generation capacity.

Electricity from these renewable projects is integrated into the Utah Power system, which also includes power generated from coal and natural gas plants. With a diverse resource mix, the company improves the reliability of supply.

Wind

Utah Power has participated in wind technology research for more than 20 years. The company’s investment in wind power has helped bring the cost of production down for consumers.

• With federal incentives, wind power ranges in price from 3 to 6 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on transmission and other costs.
• Wind power produces no air emissions.
• Every kwh of wind energy produced means one to two pounds of carbon dioxide emissions is not released by thermal plants.
• By adding more turbines, wind projects can also easily be expanded to help meet a utility’s growing energy needs.
• Currently Utah Power purchases 33 mw of wind power from the Wyoming Wind Energy Project and 50 mw from the Rock River I wind farm.

Utah Power’s Blue Sky program allows customers in Utah, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming to buy "blocks" of new, renewable wind power for $2.95 per month on their electricity bills. As of January 31, 2002, nearly 7,300 customers have purchased nearly 14,900 blocks of Blue Sky energy. In 2001, Blue Sky stepped up from 10th to 7th on the U.S. Department of Energy’s top 10 list of utility green programs in customer participation.

Geothermal

PacifiCorp owns and operates the Blundell Geothermal Plant in Utah, which uses naturally created steam to generate electricity. The plant has a net generation capacity of 23 mw. Find out more about the company’s geothermal projects.

Utah Power has invested $1.3 million in Solar II, the world’s largest solar energy plant, located in the Mojave Desert. The company has also installed panels of photovoltaic cells, which convert light to electric current, on three experimental rooftop locations in its service area, including The High Desert Museum in Bend, Ore. This placement represents the state’s first commercial use of photovoltaic power. The company’s other photovoltaic panels are atop Utah Power’s office in Moab, Utah, and an elementary school in Green River, Wyo.

Utah Power offers residential customers and businesses a variety of energy efficiency programs to help conserve resources and manage demand during peak usage periods. These programs help customers save money and allow Utah Power to meet its resource growth in a least-cost manner. The company is currently working with customers to achieve 150 average megawatts (mw) of energy efficiency by 2010. In light of the western energy supply shortage, the company is also working to reduce customer demand by 750 mw by 2003.

Utah Power also works closely with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), an organization that works with manufacturers, retailers and consumers to help transform the energy market to higher efficiency standards. The company committed $7.5 million between 1997 and 1999 toward NEEA’s conservation efforts and has committed $11.5 million between 2000 and 2004 to the organization.

Offsetting climate change

Utah Power is reducing its emission rate (CO₂/mwh) through commitments to build additional renewable generation and new gas resources. Helping customers use energy wisely also is an important component of the company’s overall strategy to reduce greenhouse gases. Since the early 1990s, Utah Power has tested strategies to offset emissions of CO₂, including methane collection at coal mines, reforestation, transportation projects and international rainforest conservation efforts. The company is also helping reduce vehicle emissions by funding the expansion of a company that uses food waste to produce ethanol, which is used as a clean-burning fuel in automobiles.

In Oregon and Washington, the company has funded the reforestation of many acres of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, which absorb or sequester additional CO₂.Larger-scale company projects include aiding the preservation of more than 1.5 million acres of rainforest in Belize and Bolivia. These two large-scale projects, developed in partnership with local partners and The Nature Conservancy, are expected to reduce CO₂ in the atmosphere by 40 million metric tons over the life of the projects.

Habitat protection

Utah Power’s operations include coal-mining facilities, power plants, dams and tens of thousands of miles of power lines. By their nature, these facilities have an impact on protected plant and animal species and their habitats. As a responsible environmental steward Utah Power collaborates with the public and resource agencies to identify sensitive species and their habitats and to implement management plans that promote their preservation.

Wildlife protection

Utah Power operates the 5,600-acre Merwin Wildlife Habitat Management Program at Merwin Reservoir in Washington. The program includes a land management database with a geographic information system. The program provides grass seeding for big game forage production.

In addition, Utah Power implemented a trial reforestation program for developing old growth structure for wildlife in second growth stands. The company also conducted a cooperative basin-wide study on wintering bald eagles with Oregon State University and the Washington Department of Wildlife. The results were then incorporated into its bald eagle and old growth management practices on the Merwin Project.

Fish impacts

Utah Power produces nearly 1,100 megawatts (mw) of energy from hydroelectric projects in five states. The company shares the public’s concern regarding the impacts of hydroelectric dams, particularly on migratory fish such as salmon and steelhead trout. It is committed to working with state and federal agencies, and the communities where it operates, to balance habitat and species protection with the social and environmental benefits of hydroelectric generation. By finding out more about the ecological status of the rivers where it operates, the company is better able to mitigate environmental impacts.

Birds and power lines

Utah Power collaborates with state and federal agencies, and conservation groups to track and reduce bird mortalities around its western operations. Tall structures, such as steel transmission towers and wood poles, are natural perches and nest sites for raptors. Utah Power has installed hundreds of nesting platforms and alternative perches for osprey and other birds of prey to discourage landing in unsafe areas.

Utah Power’s innovative bird power line management program and its participation with Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC) have won numerous awards. In 1995, the company received the "Guy Bradley Award" award from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and in 1999 it received the "Conservation Service Award" from the Department of the Interior as one of APLIC's founding members.

Birds and turbines

Prior to siting wind turbines, Utah Power conducts extensive surveys to identify the potential danger to birds and other wildlife. Siting and design take the results of these surveys into account. As a result, turbines at some projects have tubular towers rather than lattice bases to protect birds that might otherwise perch there and towers are strategically placed to minimize impacts. Blades are also coated with reflective paint to dissuade birds.

• Find out more about Utah Power's activities to support the environment and community.