Economic Analysis of Changes in Hydropower Operations at the Flaming Gorge Dam and the Aspinall Unit Due to the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program

Technical Report · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1861064· OSTI ID:1861064

Ploussard, Q. ^[1]; Veselka, T. D. ^[1]; Palmer, C. S. ^[2]

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1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
2. Western Area Power Administration, Colorado River Storage Project Management Center, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

This report was prepared by Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) in support of an economic analysis of operational restrictions at the Flaming Gorge Dam (FG) and the Aspinall Unit conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). WAPA markets electricity produced at hydroelectric facilities operated by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). The facilities known collectively as the Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects (SLCA/IP) include dams equipped for power generation on the Colorado, Green, Gunnison, and Rio Grande Rivers and on Plateau Creek in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. This report presents detailed findings of an economic analysis of operational restrictions implemented at FG during water years (WYs) 2001 to 2016, and at the Aspinall Cascade during WYs 2013 to 2016. Staff members of Argonne’s Energy Systems Division prepared this document with assistance from staff members of WAPA’s Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Management Center and Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1861064
• Report Number(s): ANL-22/17; 173932
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY