Electric Generation Capacity Planning for the Delmarva Power and Light Company: Analysis of the Proposed Vienna Unit No. 9

摘要

This report is an essay on the electric utility generation planning process, with particular reference to the application of Delmarva Power & Light Company (DP&L) for a license to construct a new 500-megawatt coal-fired generating unit at Vienna, Maryland. One major part of this report addresses the question of when additional generating capacity will be needed by DP&L to serve projected growth in peak loads. The other major part concerns the question of whether it is desirable for DP&L to invest in new coal-fired baseload generating capacity before the time this capacity is required to serve growth in peak loads, so as to achieve savings in fuel costs. This second part is thus an analysis of the appropriate size and timing for Vienna 9. This analysis incorporates the results from a financial model for the fixed costs of Vienna 9 and a production costing model for the operating costs of the entire DP&L system.