Title
Joint Board of Public Utilities & Council Meeting - Discussion on the Carbon Free Power Project
Utilities Manager's Recommendation
Staff encourages Board and Council members to meet with staff one-on-one to address their individual concerns so they can make an informed decision when this phase of the project comes up for a vote.
Body
The purpose of this agenda item is to allow the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the County Council the opportunity to discuss and ask questions ahead of a decision point in early April regarding continued County participation in the next phase of the Carbon Free Power Project (a project to build a nuclear electric generating station using small modular technology).
BACKGROUND
At the recommendation of a citizen ad hoc committee and the direction of the BPU, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) was tasked to explore participation in the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). The DPU is considering adding the CFPP to the County’s electric generation portfolio as a potential replacement base load power resource after retirement of the County’s coal generation assets in 2022 and to meet a Board-approved goal for the DPU to be a carbon-neutral electrical energy provider by 2040.
Through DPU’s membership with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), staff has been following the development of the CFPP, which is a projected 600MW nuclear generating station to be built in Idaho using small modular reactor (SMR) technology. As it is being designed, the facility would house up to twelve SMRs developed by NuScale Power, each capable of generating up to fifty megawatts of electric power for a total plant capacity of 600MW. The County’s share would be 8MW.
What has been accomplished thus far:
• The County participated in the CFPP Project Study Phase and Siting Agreement (also referred to as the fatal flaw analysis). Findings - No fatal flaws were discovered in this phas...
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