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Title: Geographic Footprint of Electricity Use for Water Services in the Western U.S.

Abstract

A significant fraction of our nation’s electricity use goes to lift, convey, and treat water, while the resulting expenditures on electricity represent a key budgetary consideration for water service providers. In order to improve understanding of the electricity-for-water interdependency, electricity used in providing water services is mapped at the regional, state and county level for the 17-conterminous states in the Western U.S. Our study is unique in estimating electricity use for large-scale conveyance and agricultural pumping as well as mapping these electricity uses along with that for drinking and wastewater services at a state and county level. These results indicate that drinking and wastewater account for roughly 2% of total West-wide electricity use, while an additional 1.2% is consumed by large-scale conveyance projects and 2.6% is consumed by agricultural pumping. The percent of electricity used for water services varies strongly by state with some as high as 34%, while other states expend less than 1%. Every county in the West uses some electricity for water services; however, there is a large disparity in use ranging from 10 MWh/yr to 5.8 TWh/yr. Finally, our results support long-term transmission planning in the Western U.S. by characterizing an important component of the electricmore » load.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI Identifier:
1182984
Report Number(s):
SAND2014-15530J
Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X; 533706
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000; M610000581
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Environmental Science and Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 48; Journal Issue: 15; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY

Citation Formats

Tidwell, Vincent C., Moreland, Barbara Denise, and Zemlick, Katie. Geographic Footprint of Electricity Use for Water Services in the Western U.S.. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1021/es5016845.
Tidwell, Vincent C., Moreland, Barbara Denise, & Zemlick, Katie. Geographic Footprint of Electricity Use for Water Services in the Western U.S.. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/es5016845
Tidwell, Vincent C., Moreland, Barbara Denise, and Zemlick, Katie. 2014. "Geographic Footprint of Electricity Use for Water Services in the Western U.S.". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/es5016845. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1182984.
@article{osti_1182984,
title = {Geographic Footprint of Electricity Use for Water Services in the Western U.S.},
author = {Tidwell, Vincent C. and Moreland, Barbara Denise and Zemlick, Katie},
abstractNote = {A significant fraction of our nation’s electricity use goes to lift, convey, and treat water, while the resulting expenditures on electricity represent a key budgetary consideration for water service providers. In order to improve understanding of the electricity-for-water interdependency, electricity used in providing water services is mapped at the regional, state and county level for the 17-conterminous states in the Western U.S. Our study is unique in estimating electricity use for large-scale conveyance and agricultural pumping as well as mapping these electricity uses along with that for drinking and wastewater services at a state and county level. These results indicate that drinking and wastewater account for roughly 2% of total West-wide electricity use, while an additional 1.2% is consumed by large-scale conveyance projects and 2.6% is consumed by agricultural pumping. The percent of electricity used for water services varies strongly by state with some as high as 34%, while other states expend less than 1%. Every county in the West uses some electricity for water services; however, there is a large disparity in use ranging from 10 MWh/yr to 5.8 TWh/yr. Finally, our results support long-term transmission planning in the Western U.S. by characterizing an important component of the electric load.},
doi = {10.1021/es5016845},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1182984}, journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
issn = {0013-936X},
number = 15,
volume = 48,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 25 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed Jun 25 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

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Cited by: 18 works
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Works referenced in this record:

Evaluating the energy consumed for water use in the United States
journal, September 2012


Determination of the Internal Chemical Energy of Wastewater
journal, January 2011


Works referencing / citing this record:

Evaluating the electricity intensity of evolving water supply mixes: the case of California’s water network
journal, October 2017


Mapping water consumption for energy production around the Pacific Rim
journal, September 2016