Hoover Dam output down about 15 percent

By John G. Edwards, Las Vegas Review-Journal -- July 10

Hydroelectric production from Hoover Dam has fallen 15 percent below peak levels produced when Lake Mead is full, according to a state agency that provides the low-cost electricity to Southern Nevada.

Lake Mead's water level started declining in December 1999 as drought reduced snow and rainfall in the Rocky Mountains, which feeds the Colorado River. Since that time, the lake level has dropped 87 feet to about 1,126 feet above sea level. As the lake level falls, so does energy production at Hoover Dam.

Officials, however, are not concerned at this point about the reduced output, in part because hydropower doesn't represent a large portion of electricity consumed in the Las Vegas area. That makes it easier to replace the lost hydroelectric production with other sources of power, although none are as cheap as hydropower.

Nevada Power Co. gets about 4 percent of its electricity, or about 235 megawatts of power generation capacity, from Hoover Dam, said George Caan, executive director of the Colorado River Commission. The river commission, a state agency, is responsible for delivering power from Hoover Dam to Nevada communities.

The decline in hydropower does force the utility to generate more power from its own plants or to buy more power wholesale, which is more expensive, Caan said. Yet, the overall increase in power costs isn't large, because hydropower accounts for such a small portion of the utility's total supply, Caan said.

Sonya Headen, a spokeswoman for Nevada Power, agreed. The utility receives "such a small amount of power from Hoover Dam" that it hasn't had a significant effect on power costs, Headen said. "At this point, it has not been an issue for the company."

"If the drought continues for a long period of time, of course, there will be trouble," Caan said.

Boulder City gets a larger portion of its power from Hoover Dam, and its rates will be affected more by the need to purchase extra expensive electricity from other sources, Caan said.

Other organizations benefiting from low-cost hydropower include Valley Electric Association, Overton Power District No. 5, which serves Mesquite, industries at the Black Mountain Industrial Park and Lincoln County.

Nevada shares in Hoover Dam's hydroelectricity with California and Arizona, and the dam produces a maximum of 2,000 megawatts when the reservoir is full, said Bob Walsh, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation. Hoover Dam only generates 1,731 megawatts, or about 15 percent less than the maximum, according to the bureau.

The bureau generates electricity by releasing water, but it releases water only to deliver water downstream or for flood control -- not just to increase power generation.

Upriver from Hoover Dam, Glen Canyon Dam's power production is off 30 percent from 10 years ago, Caan said. Nevada, however, gets only 5 percent of the power produced at Glen Canyon Dam, which created Lake Powell.

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