DME Denton 360° Oct 2021Smith Day, Regulatory & Risk Ex. Mgr.October 23, 2021
Denton Municipal Electric Overview
Denton MunicpalDME History
•In 1892, Robert Storey constructed Denton’s first electric plant on the southwest corner of Bell and Hickory. Soon after A.F. and R.H. Evers purchased the plant and supplied customers around Denton’s town square.
•The City of Denton acquired the plant in 1905, to provide both electricity and water to citizens. At the time, electricity was provided only after sundown and a loud whistle blown by utility personnel notified citizens.
•A large steam engine was added to the power plant in 1911 and 24-hour service was implemented. The Hickory Street Plant was built in 1917, employing two gas-fired steam generators to produce about 2,000 kilowatts of electricity. In 1935, the Hickory Street Diesel Plant was built across from the old steam plant, but demand soon surpassed capacity.
Construction on the Spencer Steam Plant began in 1953 and by 1955 the first two steam turbines went on line producing 15.3 megawatts of power. During the next two decades three additional units boosted power to 176 megawatts. In June of 2001, DME sold the Spencer Generating Station.
In 1975, Denton joined with the cities of Bryan, Garland, and Greenville to form Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA) and construct the Gibbons Creek lignite-fired generating plant located near Bryan, Texas. In February 2021 the plant was sold and is being scrapped.
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Denton MunicpalDME Today
•About 200 employees serving 53,000 electric customers
•Electricity sales of ~1,500,000,000 KWH per year
•Annual sales revenue of $150 million (average price of 10 cents/kwh)
•88% Residential, 10% Commercial, 2% Industrial/Large
•Service area of ~100 square miles
•34 miles of high voltage transmission circuits
•813 miles of distribution lines (57% underground)
•NOIE –Non Opt-in Entity
•Power Supply costs average more than 50% of DME budget.
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DENTON ENERGY CENTER
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•City of Denton’s Largest Capital Improvement Project
•Construction commenced in October of 2016 and was
completed in approximately 18 months
•Plant is powered by 12 Wartsila natural gas fueled engines
•The plant can deliver up to 225 MW of power to ERCOT grid in
less than 5 minutes.
•The plant’s low emissions rate and quick start capability make it
suitable to “back up” renewable power supplies
•The plant entered commercial operations in July 2018
Denton Energy Center Facts
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DEC: Natural Gas Engines
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DEC: Radiators and Stacks
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Wolf Ridge Wind Farm
Muenster, Texas
30 MW “around-the-clock”
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Wolf Ridge
•Owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy
Resources
•A 112.5-megawatt wind generation plant
•Each wind turbine is 262 feet tall from the ground to the hub in
the center of the blades
•Began commercial operation in 2008
Renewable Resource Plan
•In February 2018, the Denton City Council adopted the Denton
Renewable Resource Plan (DRRP)
•The DRRP provided that DME will have 100% renewable
resources under contract by late 2020 to serve its customer’s
annual demand.
•Includes the Denton Energy Center to balance demand during
times when renewables can’t deliver.
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Santa Rita Wind Farm
Reagan and Orion Counties, Texas
150 MW
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Contracted Renewables
•DME has contracted for a total of 280 MW of solar energy capacity from
these projects:
•Bluebell Solar I (Sterling Co.)
–Operational at the end of 2018
–20 year term
–Fixed Price per MWH during contract term
•Bluebell Solar II
–Operational in late 2020
–15 year term
–Fixed Price per MWH during contract term
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Contracted Renewables cont.
•Longdraw Solar (Borden Co.)
–Operational in late 2020
–15 year term
–Fixed Price per MWH during contract term
•Delilah Solar (Lamar Co.)
–Operational target by the end of 2022
–15 year term
–Fixed Price per MWH during contract term
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Renewable Resource Plan
•In February 2018, the Denton City Council adopted the Denton
Renewable Resource Plan (DRRP)
•The DRRP provides that DME will be 100% renewable by end
2020 but as growth grows more resources will need to be
acquired.
•In addition to existing renewable resources under contract DME
will continue to explore future resources that may include wind,
solar, or batteries.
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Energy Management Organization
•In 2014, DME created its own energy management and trading
organization
•Functions include:
–Dispatching/scheduling DME’s power resources on a Day-Ahead and Real-Time basis
–Buying/selling various electricity products such as physical/financial gas, physical/financial
electric energy, on a short or long term basis
–Monitoring and responding to the “ERCOT” electricity grid and market
•EMO trading actions are governed by an Energy Risk
Management Policy and a Risk Management Committee. The
policy is approved annually by the City Council
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“EMO”
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ERCOT Electricity Market
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Local Electric “T & D” System
•T & D stands for Transmission and Distribution
•Transmission is high voltage power lines (69kV and above)
–Transmission lines move electricity between DME’s 23 Substations and
switching yards
•Distribution refers to lower voltage circuits (13.2 KV)
–Distribution lines move electricity from Substations to businesses and homes
for eventual consumption by customers
•T & D expansion program to meet future needs is about ~85% complete
•DME’s T & D system is interconnected with the larger power grid
that interconnects most of the electric systems across Texas
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Local Electric “T & D” System
Local Electric “T & D” System
•Nationally registered with NERC as Transmission Operator, Transmission Planner, Transmission Owner, Generator Owner, Generator Operator, and a Distribution Provider
•Regionally registered with ERCOT as Transmission and Distribution Service Provider, Qualified Scheduling Entity, Resource Entity, Congestion Revenue Rights, and a Counter Party
•Award winning Electric Reliability program
•Severe storm restoration assistance history:
•Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, and New York
•Participate in several regional and local working groups, subcommittees, and task forces
•Ensure coordination between registered entities on efforts such as operating procedures, project planning, and market rules
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Local Electric Grid
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T & D Photos
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System Operations
Staffed “around-the-clock” to
monitor/control electrical network
Automated Metering System
•A major DME project over the past few years has been the
installation of a sophisticated metering network (AMI)
•AMI enables DME to communicate on a two-way basis with
meters on homes and businesses
•Enables DME to know if there is an outage or other abnormal
event at a customer’s home or business
•In process of installing remote connect/disconnect
switches in residential customer meters
–Allows DME to instantly turn on or off power for a customer.
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DME GreenSense Program
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DME Energy Efficiency Programs
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DME –In Summary
•Dedicated and professional employees committed to safety,
electric reliability, customer service and cost control.
•Significant expansion and modernization of the local electric
system has occurred over the past 6 years and work continues
•Leadership in use of environmentally positive power resources
with 100% renewable goal
•Investment in efficient fast start natural gas plant to buffer
power costs during peak periods and when renewable
resources underperform
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