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TXU Power prepared to meet Texas’ summer energy needs
By media release, photos by North Texas e-News
Jun 20, 2007
1.2 million maintenance hours, 3 reactivated units to help provide reliable power
DALLAS – June 19, 2007 – As another hot Texas summer looms, TXU Power is bringing three generating units back to life and has completed extensive maintenance ahead of schedule to help ensure Texans have a reliable supply of power to stay cool this summer.
“Implementing our maintenance plan and reactivating generating units has been a massive undertaking. We’re proud to report our employees completed this critical work ahead of schedule,” said Mike Greene, CEO of TXU Power. “Their efforts will go a long way to help ensure reliable power supplies for millions of Texans.”
Specifically, TXU Power has brought out of mothball status Units 1 and 2 at its North Lake Plant in Dallas County, and re-activated Valley Unit 1, located in Fannin County, which was previously retired in September 2006.
All three reactivated units are fueled by natural gas and represent a combined generation capacity of 525 megawatts – or enough power to serve the needs of about 260,000 Texas homes.
TXU Power has formally notified the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) it plans to run Valley 1 and North Lake 1 and 2 through at least this year’s summer peak. TXU Power stands ready to help meet peak demands and ensure reliability in the ERCOT market.
In addition, the company has completed extensive maintenance on most of the 32 active generating units in its fleet. Over the past few months, TXU Power employees have inspected and repaired turbine valves, power transformers and boilers and their hundreds of cooling water tubes in preparation for the summer run. Thousands of feet of tubing and pipes, along with plant infrastructure such as steam turbine sections and feedwater heaters, were replaced at some units.
The maintenance work involved more than 1.2 million work hours.
“Our job is to provide reliable power throughout the year – but it’s especially important during hot Texas summers,” Greene said. “All the work we’ve done will allow Texans to count on us for reliable power through the peak summer heat.”
TXU Power is a subsidiary of TXU Corp., which announced on May 3 that its power generation and related businesses, such as TXU Power, will be transitioned to the new Luminant brand. TXU Corp. announced on Feb. 26 an investor group, led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and TPG (formerly Texas Pacific), would acquire the corporation and its subsidiaries.
TXU Power is a major contributor to the economy in areas where it maintains and operates facilities, and it produces an annual economic benefit of more than $1.2 billion across Texas through power plant payrolls, purchases, contracts, taxes paid and other expenditures.
About TXU
TXU Corp., a Dallas-based energy company, manages a portfolio of competitive and regulated energy businesses primarily in Texas. In the competitive TXU Energy Holdings segment (electricity generation, wholesale marketing and retailing), TXU Energy provides electricity and related services to more than 2.1 million competitive electricity customers in Texas. TXU Power has over 18,100 MW of generation in Texas, including 2,300 MW of nuclear and 5,800 MW of coal-fueled generation capacity.
TXU Wholesale optimizes the purchases and sales of energy for TXU Energy and TXU Power and provides related services to other market participants. TXU Wholesale is the largest purchaser of wind-generated electricity in Texas and fifth largest in the United States. Power generation and related businesses, such as TXU Power and TXU Wholesale, plan to transition toward the new Luminant brand.
Visit http://www.txucorp.com/ for more information about TXU Corp.