Title
Approval of AGR21-937 Non-Tariff Wires to Wires Interconnection Update Study Agreement with the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) for the Third Power Line to Los Alamos County
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve the Non-Tariff Wire to Wires Interconnection Update Study Agreement No. AGR21-937 between the Incorporated County of Los Alamos and the Public Service Company of New Mexico in the amount of 64,595.00, plus a 10% contingency for a total amount of $71,054.50 plus applicable NMGRT.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends approving the Non-Tariff Wire to Wires Interconnection Update Study Agreement between the Incorporated County of Los Alamos and the Public Service Company of New Mexico.
Body
The current import capability into the Los Alamos Service area is approximately 116 MW and the Los Alamos peak load is currently at 92 MW. The current 10-year load forecast shows a forecasted load of 134 MW in 2026.
Every year the County is required to submit a Loads and Resources forecast to the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) on March 1st, per our Network Operating Agreement. PNM use this data for transmission planning which requires some information on where the resources originate to serve the network customers forecasted load.
In 2011 at Los Alamos County’s request, PNM looked at several options for increasing the import capability into Los Alamos service area. Options one included the construction of the SN line which consist of approximately 12 miles of new 115 kV transmission line facilities from the Norton substation to the Southern Technical Area (STA) substation; Option two is the upgrade of two existing transmissions lines into Los Alamos, the NL and RL lines to include larger conductors; and Option three was a combination of Option 1 and 2 as a staged approach.
Since the 2011 study there have been several factors effecting the forecasted peak load but primarily driven by programmatic changes at LANL. The Los Alamos National Laboratories load forecast is very dynamic with supercomputing and other energy intensive programs that may or may not get congressional funding making planning more difficult. The most recent load forecast is believed to be more certain based on LANL’s mission so they are proceeding with option 1 from the 2011 study.
With this agreement PNM will perform an updated system impact study and provide a detailed cost estimate for the interconnection at the Norton Substation which is a significant portion of the overall cost estimate for the proposed SN line. DOE NNSA is planning on requesting congressional funding in their upcoming budget.
Construction of the third line is tentatively planned for 2023. The NNSA, United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are working jointly on the Environmental Assessment to ensure all environmental impacts are addressed for the project.
Alternatives
The alternatives were studied in the 2011 report and building the third line into Los Alamos was determined to be the best option for serving the Los Alamos forecasted loads when considering contingency planning where one line is out of service.
Fiscal and Staff Impact
The 115 KV transmission system owned and operated by DOE-NNSA is an approved resource with the Electric Coordination Agreement. The cost of the study will be shared at approximately 80/20 DOE and County. The estimated cost is $64,595.00 with a ten percent contingency. Staff impact is minimal and consider part of our normal work load.
Attachments
A - AGR21-937 PNM System Impact Study Agreement