STATEMENT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON COMPANY BEFORE THE SENATE ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PROTECTION ACT Southern California Edison Company ("Edison"), one of the nation's largest investor-owned public utilities, appreciates this opportunity to provide its statement on S. 11. Edison provides electric service in a 50,000 square-mile area of central and southern California. This area includes some 800 cities and communities. Electric service is provided to nearly 3.8 million customers representing about 10.5 million people. Sales of about 71 billion kilowatt hours ("kWh") were recorded in 1988, when demand reached 15,987 MW (megawatts). Seventy-five percent of Edison's customers live in the Los Angeles Basin, while the remaining 25 percent live in the lower Central Valley and desert areas east of Los Angeles where air conditioning and heating needs are greatest. About 8 percent, or 286,000 residential customers (a population of about 588,000 people), are located in the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA). Additionally, the CDCA has approximately 29,800 commercial, 2,500 agricultural and 2,500 industrial customers. Figure 1 shows Edison's service territory and the CDCA. Although 88 percent of Edison's customers in the CDCA are residential, they accounted for only 39 percent of total kilowatt-hour sales in the area in 1988. The commercial and industrial sectors together accounted for more than half of total energy consumption. Edison's goal as an electric utility is to provide reliable and environmentally acceptable electric service at a reasonable cost. Planning to meet this and the other corporate goals involves the orderly assessment of future conditions and the determination of appropriate future actions. Additionally, the resource plan must be flexible and responsive enough to meet these goals in an uncertain operating environment. Planning is a continuous function and as significant changes occur in the operating environment, alternative courses of action are reviewed and plans revised to maintain a steady course toward desired objectives. Typically, detailed planning is done for periods of five and ten years into the future, but future resources may be studied up to 20 years into the future to ensure the availability of resource options. The resources in the California Desert Conservation Area are of strategic importance in Edison's 20-year planning horizon. Edison's 1989 Resource Plan, which is provided to the California Public Utilities Commission and The California Energy Commission, is designed to enhance the efficient and cost-effective use of electricity to meet forecasted customer needs. The Plan identifies approximately 7,150 MW of net resource additions, plus 2,150 MW of energy management programs, which will be required in the next 20 years. According to this Plan, over 5,200 MW of additional capacity, including 950 MW of energy management, will be required in the 1998-2008 time period. The generating capacity is planned to be secured from a variety of resources, including: Edison-owned resources (units returned to service, repower existing units, and new resources) Edison energy management programs purchases from non-utilities (Qualifying Facilities and Independent Power Producers) Resource siting locations are uncertain. However, a portion of the -esource need can be expected to come from remote resources located outside the Los Angeles Basin and delivered to Edison's load center by transmission lines crossing the CDCA. South Coast Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) On March 17, 1989, a 20-year plan to meet state nd federal air quality standards in the Los Angeles Basin area was approved by the Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Board and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). If the AQMP is successfully implemented as projected and necessary technological advancements are made, including significant electrification of industrial processes and transportation, as much as 9,000 MW of new electric load could develop by the year 2010. It is estimated by Edison that nearly 6,000 MW of this new electric load would be in the Edison service territory. The remaining portion would be in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) service territory. If this occurs, as much as 2,000 MW of additional transmission capability could be required to augment the existing transmission system which crosses the CDCA. Transmission Usage Edison's use of its existing and planned transmission capability from the Pacific Northwest and the Desert Southwest will be essentially full by 1998 through capacity and/or energy transactions. This includes utilization of Edison's share of the Pacific Intertie HVDC Expansion Project, the DeversPalo Verde No. 2 500-kV Transmission Line, and the California-Oregon Transmission Project. In support both of Edison's resource plan requirements in the post-1998 time period, and the AQMP, expansion or upgrade of Edison's transmission system is likely to occur. New generation resources will be needed. Some generation may have to be remotely sited. Additional power purchases will be required, and participation in transmission projects sponsored by Edison and other utilities may be necessary. Today, Edison's transmission lines in the Pacific Southwest (including California's Mojave Desert) deliver power from base-load resources located in the states of Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. Loading on these lines is relatively constant unless generation units are unavailable and replacement capacity/energy is not or cannot be secured from the resources of utilities located in this area, or system power import limitations due to transmission constraints are in effect. the future, in order to gain access to (electricity) resourceabundant regions of the Western Systems Coordinating Council (WSCC), particularly in the states of Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, increased transmission capability across the Mojave Desert could be required. Figure 2 shows major transmission intertie points with Southern California. Lugo 500 kV Transmission Line In Eldorado Lugo Nos. 1 & 2 230-kV Transmission Lines Devers Julian Hinds (via Metropolitan Water District pumps) 230-kV Transmission Line Southern Transmission System Palo Verde - Devers No. 1 500 kV Transmission Line Palo Verde - Devers No. 2 500 kV Transmission Line Edison's ownership share of the Northern Transmission System crossing the CDCA (i.e., those lines entering California from Nevada), is 2,610 MW. This amount is fully utilized to deliver Edison's Four Corners and Mohave resources, firm power purchases from Hoover Dam and Metropolitan Water District resources, commitments to other utilities, and allocations for interconnection support and loop flow. Edison's ownership share of the Southern Transmission System crossing the CDCA (i.e., those lines entering California from Arizona), is 1,349 MW prior to operation of the planned second Devers Palo Verde 500-kV line, and 2,107 MW after the second |