Sale of PUD diesel generators finalized

EPHRATA — The Grant County Public Utility District commission Monday finalized the sale of 20 diesel generators, first purchased by the utility in 2001 to meet energy demands during projected record-low river flows and the West Coast energy crisis.

Carmacks Commercial Corp., of Moses Lake, was selected as the purchaser. The company's offer of $8.2 million met the terms and conditions specified in a sale agreement. The PUD received proposals from six interested parties, purchase prices ranging from a low of $4.1 million to the offer by Carmacks.

The commission declared the generators, which have a generating capacity of 32 megawatts, surplus to the utility's needs in December 2006.

The PUD kept the diesel generators, originally purchased for between $27 million and $28 million, near the Grant County International Airport, along Randolph Road.

PUD Commissioner Tom Flint cast the lone vote against finalizing the sale Monday.

In May 2004, about 2,700 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the generator farm as a PUD crew was preparing for an air quality test.

The diesel-contaminated soil was removed by digging a hole about 16 to 20 feet deep across an area roughly 200 to 300 feet wide.

Last summer, the PUD announced it was using the diesel facility as reserve generation capacity for Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams, enabling the utility to generate additional power through the two hydroelectric projects.

Power generating utilities are required to hold a certain amount of generation back as reserve capacity. If a major power plant in the Northwest suddenly shut down, the reserve capacity at other power plants would be called on to make up the shortfall.

When the district reserved capacity at the projects, it resulted in lost generation from spilling water over the dams instead of traveling through turbines.

By mid-July 2006, without turning the generators on, the utility used the facility as its standby capacity and generated more than 11,000 megawatt-hours of electricity at the dams, realizing a net value of more than $200,000.