Dispersed generation-reduce power costs and improve service reliability

In 1997, the management of a local golf resort/residential development asked for a meeting with Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) to discuss power quality and reliability problems. The multi-million dollar development was located at the end of a 7 mile cross-country radial overhead distribution line. The line extended through a heavily wooded area for several miles before reaching the resort property. Three times in the previous twelve months, the resort had endured outages lasting longer than four hours, twice lasting longer than eight hours. Our standard 40 foot wide right-of-way was well maintained; the towering pine trees outside the right of way were the culprits. The property owners with pines would not allow wider clearing. The solution was to get a power source in close proximity to the development, but it was too close to the edge of the service territory and the load was too small to consider a new substation. The only good fit was an independent source that would be available quickly on loss of utility feed and could be used for periods of up to twenty-four hours. A standby diesel engine generator set was the answer, but the cost was prohibitive for CVEC to install one. The solution CVEC suggested was for the development to provide their own generator. If they were willing to operate it to offset peak power purchases for CVEC, they would receive monthly credits for its output that would offset the cost of ownership. This paper describes how the solution to the problem benefits all concerned.