Has anyone heard anymore on the Hawthorne plant that had the explosion in Kansas City? I know they experienced another fire, a few days after which was related to the original explosion. I also heard that the plant is expected to be offline for 2 1/2 years now. That will leave KC with a 15% reduction in power. Isn't 15% beyond the margins these utilities carry to assure continued full power? If so, that means KC can expect power shortages this summer, right?

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999

Answers

Meg, it would appear that making up the loss of generating power due to the Hawthorne plant explosion is definitely a concern. The Kansas City Star has some articles about the situation with KCP&L at:

http://www.kcstar.com/bin/iatoc

The 2/17 report is titled, "Loss of capacity could cut into KCP&L's ability to deliver this summer" and the 2/25 report addresses expectations that the new generating unit, which was already being built, will be ready this summer and will make up about 1/3 of the lost Hawthorne capacity.

Of interest to KCP&L customers would be the statements:

"Missouri regulators plan to investigate the cause of the explosion and whether KCP&L has sufficient plans to cover the demand for electricity this summer when air conditioners cause consumption to peak."

"Particularly vulnerable could be large industrial customers who have "interruptible" contracts, which allow their electricity to be reduced or stopped if the supply becomes tight."

"Hawthorn 5 could generate 479 megawatts of electricity, or 15 percent of KCP&L's capacity. That represents most of the reserves the utility is required to have to ensure that it can meet peak demand, even when some generating units aren't operating."

"Another likely possibility, if the power is needed, is that KCP&L will turn to the wholesale market, buying electricity from other utilities that have it to spare."

"But the wholesale market is deregulated, so that power could be costly. Indeed, in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, KCP&L said that an extended shutdown of Wolf Creek -- a nuclear plant it partly owns and which provides 25 percent of its capacity -- "could have a substantial adverse effect on KCP&L's business (and) financial condition."

"Others say there could still be problems. Wholesale electricity under contract to be sold this summer already costs as much as six times current prices."

KCP&L does have some press releases at their own site:

http://www.kcpl.com/news/

but they have less details than the newspaper articles.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 1999