Brigham Young University is considering a plan to generate a portion of its own power.
R.W. Beck, a company based in Denver, Colo., is conducting a feasibility analysis of the idea for BYU, Provo City and the Utah Municipal Power Agency.The company will examine how installation of a co-generation system at BYU would affect Provo, the school and the power agency, including the possibility of BYU generating a small portion of its own power and buying the rest from the power agency.
Provo City is the largest shareholder in the power agency.
Also, the study will look at the best timing for changing BYU from total dependence on Provo City power to reliance on its own power source and the power agency.
BYU will pay half of the cost of the $60,000 study and Provo and the power agency will split the remaining cost. The study will be finished at the end of August.
Paul Richards, BYU spokesman, said until now BYU has burned coal to generate heat for its underground heating system. The university is converting that system to natural gas in order to comply with clean-air regulations. The university also wants to use natural gas to produce some of its power.
"We have to come up with a new pollution-free power system by December 1992," Richards said. "Heat generation and clean air are the primary purpose of going to the natural gas system. As long as we are producing that power it makes good sense to use the excess heat for power generation.
"We are putting a large number of resources into (it). We are very much committed to doing our part to clean the air," Richards said.
Because coal is cheaper than natural gas, the revamped system will be more expensive to operate. BYU plans to spend between $20 million and $40 million on the system.
Presently, BYU is Provo City's largest power customer, purchasing $4.5 million worth of energy annually.
"It is a significant item because BYU is approximately 20 percent of our load," said Ron Rydman, Provo City energy director. "BYU has a significant impact on our system. Every time Provo has evaluated its system and needs for the future it has had to plan in BYU."
Rydman said if BYU withdraws as a city power customer, Provo and the power agency's power load projections will no longer be correct.
Richards said initially Provo did not want BYU to "do our own thing at all." The city and BYU have since identified a possible win-win alternative - having BYU join the power agency as a power source. Excess power generated by BYU could then be sold to other members of the agency, adding to the reliability and versatility of the whole system.
Rydman said the possibility of BYU installing a co-generation plant may not be all bad because it forestalls the city having to expand its system to keep up with growth. Also, the city would have another source of power to draw from. And, as the major source of Utah Municipal Power Agency.power, Provo will still receive revenue from Provo City.
"We are trying to find a win-win-win situation," Rydman said.