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| At Colorado Springs Utilities, we provide affordable electric power, while protecting the environment around us. We can supply up to 633 megawatts while serving more than185,000 customers each day. Did You Know? - We generate 82 percent of our own electricity.
- We receive three train loads - or 39,000 tons - of low-cost, low-sulfur coal each week from northwest Colorado and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. It requires more than two train cars of coal per hour to generate electricity for Colorado Springs during maximum generation.
- We built the Tesla Hydroelectric Plant (27 megawatts) in 1997 and added two combustion turbines (66 megawatts) at the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant in 1999. In spring 2003, Front Range Power, a 480 megawatt combined-cycle unit located near the Nixon Power Plant, went into full operation.
- Since 1979, all new electric generation has been fueled by sources other than coal, such as natural gas, hydroelectric, reconditioned motor oil or purchased wind power.
- We remove nearly 99.9 percent of all particulates at our two coal-fired power plants - Nixon and Martin Drake. The "white clouds" from the power plants are steam.
- Approximately 68 percent of all distribution lines in our service area are underground, compared to an industry average of 25 percent.
- We have been recognized for seven consecutive years as a "Tree Line USA " utility by the National Arbor Day Foundation. We protect and enhance Colorado Springs’ urban forest by properly trimming tree limbs, protecting tree roots when burying electric lines, and replacing trees that must be removed from under power lines.
Bio-Gas Energy
Bio-gas is derived from digesting biosolids from our wastewater treatment plant. We use the gas produced from this process to run four boilers and two combustion turbines. Bio-gas produced enough heat energy during 2001 to heat approximately 3,600 households for a full year. |
