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Grant County PUD
Utilities know that to stay ahead you must constantly develop new business ventures. Grant County PUD’s newest business venture offering “dynamic capacity” is aimed directly at facilitating the integration of renewable wind power in the Pacific Northwest.
A key challenge for electric utilities is that customer demand fluctuates hour by hour, as does power produced at wind farms and other power plants. “Balancing authorities” like air traffic controllers manage these hourly fluctuations. According to Rod Noteboom, Manager of Transmission Services, balancing authorities often change their generating requests every four seconds.
By delivering a supply of power also known as dynamic capacity to balancing authorities, Grant County PUD helps them meet their generating requests. The PUD is dedicating a certain amount of its generating capacity to supplying this power. The utility’s generating capacity comes from their Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams on the Columbia River.
Grant County PUD began this new business venture to integrate the region’s growing renewable resource base and to fully utilize its systems, Noteboom said. Knowing they will have their power fluctuations covered allows power companies to invest in and use more wind resources.
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