Need

Today, our community is at a crossroads. Our lifestyles and everyday activities are fueling an increased demand for electrical power, and while growth in our community has slowed, we are still growing.  Even by very conservative estimates, the demand for electrical power will outpace our capacity for supply in the next four to 10 years.

In addition, while our current infrastructure has and continues to serve us well, it is aging and it is not as efficient or clean as technologies that are available to us today.  We need to plan for its replacement.

At the same time, we need to plan a balanced energy future. That means fulfilling our environmental responsibilities while also meeting our commitment to our customers for affordable, reliable power.

The Holland BPW, in conjunction with other area utilities and a utility consulting firm, went through an extensive planning process to determine the most accurate prediction of future power needs. The result of this process was a 20-year Power Supply Plan. The documents below were used as part of the assessment that identified a need for additional future electric production capacity.

1. Development of Power Supply Plan for Holland BPW

2. Projected Average Power Supply Costs Graph

3. Power Supply Plan Statistical Analysis

AES
Alternative electric supplier. Sells electric generation service to retail customers while utilizing the delivery system of an investor, cooperative or municipally owned utility.
Aggregation
Pooling together customers’ electric loads to create a larger block of power.
Aggregator
A person or group that combines multiple retail customers or single customers with multiple sites or some of each into one or more buying groups or pools for the purpose of purchasing power. An Alternate Energy supplier can provide this function.
Alternating current (A.C.)
An electric current that reverses its direction (positive/negative values) at regular intervals.
Alternative Electric Supplier (AES)
The name given to specified competitive suppliers of retail electric services in Michigan. Act 141 of 2000, Section 10 g(a) defines AES as “a person selling electric generation service to retail customers in this state. Alternative electric supplier does not include a person who physically delivers electricity directly to retail customers in this state.” An AES may also be known as a marketer.
Ampere (AM-peer)
a unit that measures the strength/rate of flow of electrical current.
AMR
Automated Meter Reading.
APPA
The American Public Power Association is the Washington, D.C.-based national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 2,000 community- and state-owned electric utilities.
Baseload

The minimum amount of electric power delivered or required over a given period of time at a steady rate.

Baseload Capacity

The generating equipment normally operated to serve loads on an around-the-clock basis.

Baseload Plant

A plant, usually housing high efficiency steam-electric units, which is normally operated to take all or part of the minimum load of a system, and which consequently produces electricity at an essentially constant rate and runs continuously. These units are operated to maximize system mechanical and thermal efficiency and minimize system operating costs.

Billing Cycle
The period of days in which a utility or supplier totals customer energy use and produces the customer bill, the regular schedule when the bill will be delivered to the customer, and the due date for the customer’s payment to be received by the utility is commonly called the “billing cycle.”
Bio gas
biomass rots and releases methane gas, also called biogas or landfill gas. Some landfills have a system that collects this gas so that it can be used as a fuel source.
Biomass
Energy produced from naturally replenishable resources such as plant matter, agricultural and forestry waste.
Breaker
A switch-like device that connects/disconnects power to a circuit.
British Thermal Unit

(BTU) A standard unit for measuring the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit at or near 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Broker
A retail agent who buys and sells power. Brokers often aggregate customers and arrange for transmission, and other ancillary services as needed.
Bulk Power Supply
The aggregate of electric generating plants, transmission lines, and related-equipment. The term is also used to refer to wholesale power supply.
Bundled Service
Customers receive electric generation, transmission, distribution, and related customer service and support functions as a combined service.
Capacity
a measure of the quantity of instantaneous energy use. The amount of electric power delivered or required for which a generator, turbine, transformer, transmission circuit, station, or system is rated by the manufacturer.
Capacity charge
Sometimes called “demand charge” or “system use charge,” is assessed on the maximum or peak amount of electricity used. Often, the charge is based on the maximum amount of electricity used at any time in the previous 12 months.
Circuit
A continuous loop of current.
Circuit Breaker
A safety device in an electrical circuit that automatically shuts off the circuit when it becomes over-loaded. A breaker is used to interrupt or break an electrical circuit when overloaded or shorts out.
Co-op
Commonly used to denote a rural electric cooperative. These cooperatives generate and purchase wholesale power, arrange for transmission of power, and distribute the power to serve the demand of rural customers.
Cofiring
The use of two or more different fuels simultaneously in the same combustion chamber of a power plant.
Cogeneration
joint production of electricity and useful heat/steam from a common source.
Combined-Cycle Power Plant
A power plant that uses two thermodynamic cycles to achieve higher overall system efficiency; e.g.: the heat from a gas-fired combustion turbine is used to generate steam for heating or to operate a steam turbine to generate additional electricity.
Conductor
any material (such as a power line) that allows its electrons to be easily transferred.
Conservation
To reduce or avoid the consumption of a resource or commodity.
Conservation Cost Adjustment
A means of billing electric power consumers to pay for the costs of demand side management/energy conservation measures and programs.
Consumers
Consumers Energy Company, a subsidiary of CMS Energy.
Consumption Charge
The part of an energy utility’s charge based on actual energy consumed by the customer; the product of the kilowatt-hour rate and the total kilowatt-hours consumed.
Conventional Fuel
The fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas.
Cooling Pond
A body of water used to cool the water that is circulated in an electric power plant.
Cooling Tower
A structure used to cool power plant water; water is pumped to the top of the tubular tower and sprayed out into the center, and is cooled by evaporation as it falls, and then is either recycled within the plant or is discharged.
Current (Electrical)
The flow of electrical energy (electricity) in a conductor, measured in amperes.
Customer Choice
Retail customers of a public utility having the opportunity to select from among competing suppliers of electric, gas, and associated services. Sometimes called “electric customer choice,” “direct access,” “open access,” or “retail open access.”
Customer Choice Act
Customer Choice and Electricity Reliability Act, a Michigan statute enacted in June 2000 that allows all retail customers choice of alternative electric suppliers no later than January 1, 2002, provides for full recovery of net stranded costs and implementation costs, establishes a five percent reduction in residential rats, establishes rate freeze and rate cap, and allows for securitization.
Customer Class
Categories of energy consumers, as defined by consumption or demand levels, and generally includes residential, commercial, and industrial.
De-energize(d)
To disconnect a transmission and/or distribution line; a power line that is not carrying a current; to open a circuit.
Decommissioning
The process of removing a power plant, equipment, or building from operation.
Demand charge
a separate charge based upon the demand for electric service by a commercial or industrial customer, based on the investment in facilities necessary to serve them.
Demand-Side Management (DSM)
The planning, implementation, and evaluation of utility-sponsored services used to influence the quantity and/or timing of a customer’s energy use.
Deregulation
The process of changing regulatory policies and laws to increase competition among suppliers of commodities and service.
Direct Access
The ability of a retail customer to purchase electricity from a retailer other than the local utility and have it delivered over the utility transmission and distribution system.
Distributed Generation
A system that involves small amounts of generation located on a utility’s distribution system for the purpose of meeting substation level peak loads and/or displacing the need to build additional local distribution lines.
Distribution
The delivery of water or electricity/power to the customer. In the case of electricity, includes the poles, wires and substations (local distribution system).
Distribution lines
power lines, used to carry moderate voltage electricity which is “stepped down” to household levels by transformers on power poles.
DOE
U. S. Department of Energy, created in 1977.
Easement
An incorporated right, privilege, or use of another entity’s property, distinct from ownership, without profit or compensation; a right-of-way.
Effluent (EF-loo-ent)
Water or some other liquid-raw, partially or completely treated, flowing from a reservoir, basin, treatment process or treatment plant.
Electric Choice Plan
In 2000, the Michigan Legislature enacted Public act 141, clearning the way for electric choice in Michigan. Beginning January 1, 2002, electric choice became available to non-municipal customers.
Electric Deregulation
A means to establish an “open market” environment by permitting the power supply function to operate competitively, while at the same time, allowing the consumer to select the electric energy supplier of choice. The objective is to allow market forces to drive the price of electric supply and, subsequently, reduce the net cost through increased competition.
Electric Power Transmission
The transmission of electricity through power lines.
Electricity Generation
The process of producing electricity by transforming other forms or sources of energy into electrical energy; measured in kilowatt-hours.
Eminent domain
the authority to acquire land from a private owner for the benefit of public use.
Energize(d)
To send electricity through an electricity transmission and distribution network; a conductor or power line that is carrying current.
Energy Audit
A survey that shows how much energy that is used in a house or building.
Energy efficiency/conservation
Using less energy/electricity to perform the same function.
EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
The U.S. government agency that regulates the price, terms, and conditions of transmission services and wholesale sales of electricity. This legislation established guidelines for federal regulation of interstate energy sales. It is the primary statute governing regulation of the electric sector.
Feeder Line
power lines that travel out from substations to “feed” smaller distribution lines in a certain geographic area.
Fly ash
small particles of airborne ash produced by burning fossil fuels.
Gas Turbine
A type of turbine in which combusted, pressurized gas is directed against a series of blades connected to a shaft, which forces the shaft to turn to produce mechanical energy.
Generation
The production of electricity at a power plant.
GIS
Geographic Information System
Green/Renewable Electricity
Energy that is produced from naturally replenishable sources such as the sun, wind and water. Renewable electricity generation has a lower impact on the environment than fossil fuel and nuclear power facilities because they emit little or no emissions, they do not need to be mined or extracted, and do not produce harmful radioactive waste.
Grid
A system of interconnected power lines and generators that is managed in such a way that the generators are dispatched on an as needed basis to meet the requirements of the customers on the grid.
Halogen Lamps
Electric lamps constructed of a heat-resistant quartz tube filled with halogen gas.
Health Advisory (HA)
Guidance values based on non-cancer health effects for different durations of exposure (e.g., one-day, ten-day, longer-term, and lifetime).
High voltage
voltage greater than 100,000 volts.
Incandescent Lamp
A device that produces light when a fine tungsten wire (a filament) is heated by passing electric current through it.
Incident command system (ICS)
An organized approach to effectively control and manage operations at an emergency incident involving hazardous substances, headed by the senior official responding to the incident.
Independent System Operator (ISO)
An independent third party that manages transmission systems owned by utilities.
Interconnection Agreement
An agreement between two interconnected utilities that provides for mutual services across interconnections, such as short-term power sales and purchases, emergency power sales and purchases, and third-party power sales and purchases.
Interruptible Load
Energy loads that can be shut off or disconnected at the supplier’s discretion or as determined by a contractual agreement between the supplier and the customer.
Investor-owned Utility (IOU)
A utility company owned and operated by private investors. Example: Consumers Energy.
JDY
James DeYoung Generating Plant
Kilowatt (kW)
a unit of power equal to 1,000 watts. Ten 100-watt light bulbs use one kW of electric power.
Kilowatt-hour (kWH)
a unit of electric energy. A kilowatt-hour equals the amount of electricity needed to burn ten, 100-watt light bulbs for one hour.
Landfill gas
biomass rots and releases methane gas, also called biogas or landfill gas. Some landfills have a system that collects this gas so that it can be used as a fuel source.
Load
the total customer demand for electric service at any given time.
Load Factor
A utility’s load factor is its average load as a percentage of its peak load.
Load Management
Shifting the use of electricity from periods of high demand to periods of lower demand. This usually occurs when the cost of electricity is lower.
Local area network (LAN)
The system of cabling, signal converters and other equipment, and software that links electronically compatible computers and enables them to exchange data and commands.
Marketer
A company that buys and resells electricity without owning the generating facilities.
Megawatt (mW)
Is one million watts of light or the equivalent of 10,000 100-watt lightbulbs. A megawatt provides enough energy to power about 1,000 households.
Mgd
Million gallons per day.
Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC)
a subsidiary of Consumers Energy.
Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)
Is the regulatory agency for investor-owned and cooperative utilities in Michigan. All the rates, terms and conditions of served offered by these utilities must be approved by this agency.
Milligrams per liter (Mg/L )
A unit of the concentration of a constituent in water or wastewater. It represents 0.001 gram of a constituent in 1 liter of water. It is approximately equal to one part per million (PPM).
mL
Milliliter
Municipal Utility
A provider of utility services owned and operated by a city government. A municipal utility is nonprofit.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
An EPA-promulgated air quality standard that defines the levels of a pollutant in weight per volume that should not be exceeded under ambient conditions.
NIOSH
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health is a federal organization that tests and approves safety equipment for particular applications.
Nonrenewable Fuels
Fuels that cannot be easily made or “renewed,” such as oil, natural gas, and coal.
NOx
Nitrogen Oxide
Off-Peak
The period of low energy demand, as opposed to maximum, or peak, demand.
On-Site Generation
Generation of energy at the location where all or most of it will be used.
Open Access
The ability to send or wheel electric power to a customer over a transmission and distribution system that is not owned by the generator (seller) of the power.
Outage
A discontinuance of electric power supply.
Palisades
Palisades nuclear power plant, owned by Consumers.
PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Peak demand
a one hour period in a year representing the highest point of customer consumption of electricity.
Peak Load or Peak Demand
The electric load that relates to the maximum level of electric demand in a specified time period. Peak demands are important because they dictate the maximum amount of power the utility must generate or buy in order to meet the needs of the entire electrical system.
Peaking Capacity
Power generation equipment or system capacity to meet peak power demands.
Power
Power is the measure of the amount of work an electric current can accomplish in a specified period of time. The most common unit of electrical power measurement is the watt, or kilowatt, which is 1,000 watts.
Power pool
a regional organization of electric companies interconnected for the sharing of reserve generating capacity.
Power Transmission Line
An electrical conductor/cable that carries electricity from a generator to other locations for distribution.
Public Act 69
Established in 1929, this law requires any electricity or gas provider intending to serve within a governmental unit, where another utility already is providing service, to obtain a “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” from the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Real-Time Pricing
The pricing of electricity based on the cost of the electricity available for use at the time the electricity is being demanded by the customer.
Renewable Energy Resource (renewables, renewable resource)
a source of electricity generated from solar, wind, biomass, small hydroelectric facilities, and other resources that can be naturally replenished and the rate of use does not exceed the rate of replenishment. These resources are often referred to as “Green” options.
Restructuring
The process of changing the structure of the electric power industry from one of guaranteed monopoly over serviced territories, as established by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, to one of open competition between power suppliers for customers in any area.
Retail Competition
Is a system where more than one electric provider can sell to retail customers, and retail customers are allowed to purchase from more than one provider.
Retail Market
A market that allows electricity and other energy services to be sold directly to the end-use customers.
Retail Wheeling
The ability of a retail customer to purchase commodity electricity directly from the wholesale market rather than through a local distribution utility. The power is then wheeled at a fixed rate, or at a regulated “non-discriminatory” rate set by a utility commission.
Rotor
An electric generator consists of an armature and a field structure. The armature carries the wire loop, coil, or other windings in which the voltage is induced, whereas the field structure produces the magnetic field. In small generators, the armature is usually the rotating component (rotor) surrounded by the stationary field structure (stator). In large generators in commercial electric power plants the situation is reversed. In a wind energy conversion device, the blades and rotating components.
SCADA
System Control and Data Acquisition
Scrubbers
equipment designed to reduce sulfur emissions from coal-fired generating plants.
Self-Generation
A generation facility dedicated to serving a particular retail customer, usually located on the customer’s premises. The facility may either be owned directly by the retail customer or owned by a third party with a contractual arrangement to provide electricity to meet some or all of the customer’s load.
Service area
the territory in which a utility has the right to supply service.
Short Circuit
An electric current taking a shorter or different path than intended.
Short Circuit Current
The current flowing freely through an external circuit that has no load or resistnce; the maximum current possible.
Solar Power
Electricity which is generated from solar radiation.
Solar Satellite Power
A proposed process using satellites in geosynchronous orbit above the earth to capture solar energy with photovoltaic cells, converting it to microwave energy, then beaming the microwaves to earth where they would be transmitted to large antennas, and changed from microwave into usable electricity.
Solar Thermal Power Plant
a power plant in which 75 percent or more of the total energy output is from solar energy and the use of backup fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, does not, in the aggregate, exceed 25 percent of the total energy input of the facility during any calendar year period.
Source Energy
Energy used in delivering energy to a site, including power generation and transmission and distribution losses, to perform a specific function, such as space conditioning, lighting, or water heating. Approximately three watts (or 10.239 Btus) of energy is consumed to deliver one watt of usable electricity.
Steam
Water in vapor form; used as the working fluid in steam turbines and heating systems.
Steam Boiler
A type of furnace in which fuel is burned and the heat is used to produce steam.
Steam Electric Plant
A power station in which steam is used to turn the turbines that generate electricity. The heat used to make the steam may come from burning fossil fuel, using a controlled nuclear reaction, concentrating the sun’s energy, tapping the earth’s natural heat or capturing industrial waste heat.
Steam Turbine
A device that converts high-pressure steam, produced in a boiler, into mechanical energy that can then be used to produce electricity by forcing blades in a cylinder to rotate and turn a generator shaft.
Stranded Benefits
Public interest programs and goals which could be compromised or abandoned by a restructured electric industry. These potential “stranded benefits” might include: environmental protection, fuel diversity, energy efficiency, low-income ratepayer assistance, and other types of socially beneficial programs.
Stranded Costs
Where costs exceed the amount that can be recovered through the asset’s sale.
Stranded Investment (Costs and Benefits)
An investment in a power plant or demand side management measures or programs, that become uneconomical due to increased competition in the electric power market. For example, an electric power plant may produce power that is more costly than what the market rate for electricity is, and the power plant owner may have to close the plant, even though the capital and financing costs of building the plant have not been recovered through prior sales of electricity from the plant. This is considered a Stranded Cost. Stranded Benefits are those utility investments in measures or programs considered to benefit consumers by reducing energy consumption and/or providing environmental benefits that have to be curtailed due to increased competition and lower profit margins.
Substation
In populated areas, high transmission voltage must be “stepped down” to lower transmission levels for safety and flexibility of handling. Such voltage step-down is accomplished at a “transmission substation,” which is basically a transformer surrounded by high voltage switches and circuit breakers. Another type of substation is a Distribution Substation which lowers the transmission voltage to 39,000 volts or less and usually contains one or more transformers, switches, circuit breakers and lightning arresters to protect the electrical system from the damaging effects of short circuits, overloads and lightning.
Superconductor
A synthetic material that has very low or no electrical resistance.
Supply-Side
Activities conducted on the utility’s side of the customer meter. Activities designed to supply electric power to customers, rather than meeting load through energy efficiency measures or on-site generation on the customer side of the meter.
System Integration
The successful integration of a new technology into the electric utility system by analyzing the technology’s system effects and resolving any negative impacts that might result from its broader use.
Time of Use (TOU) Rates
Pricing based on the estimated cost of electricity during a particular time block. Time-of-use rates are usually divided into three or four time blocks per twenty-four hour period and by seasons of the year (summer and winter). Real-time pricing differs from TOU rates in that it is based on actual (versus forecasted) prices which may fluctuate many times during a day, rather than varying with a fixed schedule.
Transformer
equipment vital to the transmission and distribution of electricity designed to increase or decrease voltage.
Transmission
The transport of high voltage electricity from a power plant to the local distribution system near the customer. Includes the large wires on tall poles.
Transmission lines
power lines normally used to carry high voltage electricity to substations which then is “stepped down” for distribution to individual customers.
Turbine
A device for converting the flow of a fulid (air, steam, water, or hot gases) into mechanical motion.
Unbundled Services
Unbundling refers to the process of disaggregating electric utility services into basic components and offering each component for sale, with separate charges for each component. For example, listing delivery and energy supply charges as separate items on the electric bill.
Unbundling
Disaggregating electric utility service into basic components and offering each component separately with individual rates established for each component. For example, offering transmission, generation of power and the distribution of power on an individual basis.
USEPA
The Environmental Protection Agency. A federal agency charged with the responsibility of protecting the environment.
Vertical Integration
An arrangement where a single company owns all the aspects of generating, transmitting, and distributing the electric service.
Water Turbine
A turbine that uses water pressure to rotate its blades. Primarily used to power an electric generator.
Watt (W)
a unit of power equal to 1 joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of 1 ampere flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm.
Wheeling
The transmission of electricity by an entity that does not own or directly use the power it is transmitting. Under wholesale wheeling, bulk transactions take place in the wholesale marketplace. Under retail wheeling, power producers have direct access to retail customers.
Wholesale Wheeling
The wheeling of electric power in amounts and at prices that generally have been negotiated in longterm contracts bwettween the generator and a distributor or verylarge consumer of power.
Wind Energy
Energy available from the movement of the wind across a landscape caused by the heating of the atmosphere, earth, and oceans by the sun.
Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) or Device
An apparatus for converting the energy available in the wind to mechanical energy that can be used to power machinery (grain mills, water pumps) and to operate an electrical generator.
Wind Generator
A WECS designed to produce electricity.
Wind Power Plant
A group of wind turbines interconnected to a common utility system through a system of transformers, distribution lines, and (usually) one substation. Operation, control, and maintenance functions are often centralized through a network of computerized monitoring systems, supplemented by visual inspection.
Wind Turbine
A term used for a wind energy conversion device that produces electricity; typically having one, two, or three blades.
Wind Turbine Rated Capacity
The amount of power a wind turbine can produce at its rated wind speed, e.g., 100 kW at 20 mph. The rated wind speed generally corresponds to the point at which the conversion efficiency is near its maximum. Because of the variability of the wind, the amount of energy a wind turbine actually produces is a function of the capacity factor (e.g., a wind turbine produces 20% to 35% of its rated capacity over a year).
Windpower Curve
a graph representing the relationship between the power available from the wind and the wind speed.
Wire (Electrical)
A generic term for an electrical conductor.