MONA, Juab County — With the flip of a switch and the turning of some dials, the Currant Creek power plant began generating electricity this week for the first time, supplying enough power to light up roughly 144,000 homes.
Most of that generation will find its way to Utah Power customers along the Wasatch Front, where a surge in electrical demand is pushing the utility to build a string of new power plants.
The $350 million Currant Creek power plant — located west of Mona, Juab County, about 75 miles south of Salt Lake City — is the first of three natural gas-fired plants planned for Utah over the next four years.
With its two 80-foot stacks, Currant Creek stands out in this town of roughly 700 people. It will increase a stagnant tax base from sales tax revenues stemming from energy sales, as well as property taxes.
The plant employs 24 people full time, but 400 construction workers remain on the site working on a second phase that is expected to be finished by April 2006. The second phase will convert the plant from a 280-megawatt simple-cycle system to a combined-cycle plant, capable of generating 525 megawatts of electricity, enough power for nearly 270,000 homes.
Currant Creek is the first significant power plant over 300 megawatts to be built since 1983, when the Hunter power plant's third unit become operational, according to Dave Eskelsen, a spokesman for PacifiCorp, Utah Power's parent company.
"The one thing that's really great about this plant is the flexibility options in providing power to customers," said John Bowater, plant manager. "On those high-demand days, the plant can respond quickly."
And with more Utahns switching to central air conditioning, electrical demand is skyrocketing, with peak electrical demand increasing by 5.4 percent each year and base demand rising at 2.6 percent annually.
"The growth in electricity consumption demand in Utah is just enormous," Bowater said. "Five percent growth is the sign of a very healthy economy. I've never seen so much home-building going on."
Currant Creek's first phase consists of two turbines that draw in air, which is mixed with natural gas before combustion. By next year, a steam turbine — powered by steam generated from waste heat — will be added.
Operating at full capacity, Currant Creek will consume 90,000 decatherms of natural gas per day.
PacifiCorp has commissioned a second power plant, which is under construction at the former Geneva Steel site in Vineyard. The utility will be soliciting bids for a third power plant this summer.
"Our resource planning has indicated that there'll be a substantial need for this kind of investment to serve the growing demand for electricity," Eskelsen said. "Our task is to make sure that we have resources to generate and deliver that energy on time for our customers."
E-mail: danderton@desnews.com