Inventory of Nonutility Electric Power Plants in the United States, 1999

Summary

As of December 31, 2000, the existing capacity of U.S. nonutility electric generating plants totaled 208,293 megawatts (Table 1). This nonutility total represents about 26 percent of the total electric power generating capacity in 2000. Nine percent of the 208,293 megawatts is in new units that started operation in 2000; about twenty-one percent is in capacity that was sold or transferred in 2000 to nonutilities or unregulated affiliates of electric utilities.

Based on primary energy source, gas-fired capacity accounted for 32 percent (65,921 megawatts) of the nonutility existing capacity. Coal-fired capacity accounted for 26 percent (55,017 megawatts); dualfired – petroleum and gas capability, 21 percent (43,027 megawatts); nuclear, six percent (11,892 megawatts); petroleum, five percent (10,067); conventional hydroelectric, three percent (5,621 megawatts); other renewable energy sources, seven percent (14,736 megawatts); pumped storage hydroelectric and other, less than one percent (2,012 megawatts).

Forty-nine percent of the dual-fired capacity is in steam-electric units; twenty-nine percent is in simple cycle gas turbine units; and 22 percent in combined cycle units.

Conventional steam-electric plants accounted for fifty-one percent of nonutility capacity; combined cycle plants, 20 percent; simple cycle gas turbine plants, 16 percent; nuclear steam-electric plants, 6 percent; other, 7 percent.

During 2000, 18,086 megawatts of capacity in new units came on line (Table 2). Seventy-five percent (13,482 megawatts) of this capacity is fired by natural gas – virtually in simple cycle gas turbine and combined cycle plants. The remaining 26 percent of new capacity is in other gas turbine and combined cycle units, landfill gas units, petroleum-fired internal combustion units, coal, biomass, wind and hydroelectric units (Table 7).

During 2000, nearly 43,000 megawatts of electric utilities’ generating assets were purchased by nonutilities or transferred to unregulated affiliates of electric utilities. This capacity was reclassified as nonutility capacity and is included in this report in the various summary and detail tables. Nuclear capacity accounted for about 22 percent of this purchased/transferred capacity. This nuclear capacity is represented in the following plants: 1,675- megawatt Calvert Cliffs (Maryland), 2,188-megawatt Susquehanna (Pennsylvania), 619-megawatt Oyster Creek (New Jersey), 1,031-megawatt Hope Creek (New Jersey), 2,212-megawatt Salem (New Jersey), 970-megawatt Indian Point 3 (New York) and 820- megawatt James A Fitzpatrick (New York) (Table 8).

Nonutilities reported plans to install an additional 278,166 megawatts (generator nameplate capacity) in 1,946 new generating units during the 2001 through 2005 period. With demand expected to be considerably less than that forecast at the time this new construction was initially proposed, much of this capacity has been indefinitely postponed or canceled.

Inventory of Nonutility Electric Power Plants in the United States, 2000

Summary

Inventory of Nonutility Electric Power Plants
in the United States, 2000