In 1974, Muscatine Power and Water’s (MPW) long awaited power supply survey was released. Compiled by Stanley Consultants, the utility’s longtime engineering firm, the survey projected a summer peak of 132,000 kilowatts (kW) by 1982, double the 67,000 kW peak reached in 1974. With a reserve margin of 15%, MPW would have to plan to have 152,000 kW at its disposal by 1982. Worse yet, the Stanley Consultants planners estimated MPW’s peak would double again by 1992 to nearly 300,000 kW of demand and reserve margin.
Stanley presented the board with two options. MPW could build a 150,000-kW coal-fired unit addition at its power station by 1982, and then fill in with the construction of small, 25,000-kW gas turbine units in 1980, 1987, and 1992, or it could join utilities in the Iowa Pool in construction of a joint-owned nuclear generating station and fill in the gaps in demand with the construction of gas-turbine units.
Utilities from the Iowa Pool eventually built the Duane Arnold Nuclear Station under the management of Iowa Electric Light and Power, and MPW chose not to participate. With 125,000 kW of generation at the Muscatine Station, MPW felt more comfortable with adding generation.
Before the board had a chance to vote on the two options, however, it was presented with another alternative. Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric announced its plans to build a joint venture, 650,000 kW, coal-fired stream electric station on the Mississippi River in Louisa County just south of Muscatine. The $417 million plant was expected to come online in 1983, and MPW was offered a 60,000-kW participation.
After further study of the matter, the MPW trustees elected to go ahead with construction of a 160,000 kW turbine generator at Muscatine Island. The new generator, which was immediately dubbed Unit 9, would more than double capacity at the 53-year-old power plant site. Estimated costs for the plant addition, transmission lines, substation additions, and system control operations were $165 million, and the plant was scheduled to begin construction in 1979 and be completed three years later. Key to the utility’s plan was a 10-year contract for the sale of excess capacity to Iowa Electric.
MPW’s generation and transmission capabilities qualified the utility for membership in the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool (MAPP). Formed in 1972, MAPP allowed upper Midwest utilities the opportunity to exchange power in an interconnected grid of transmission lines.
The economic reality of clean air laws dictated the new unit would have the most sophisticated pollution control equipment yet. MPW utilized Midwestern coal in its boilers, and the fuel had a comparatively high sulfur content of around 3%. The utility opted to include a flue gas desulfurization unit, commonly called a “scrubber,” on Unit 9.
For a while in 1982, it appeared that the trustees of the MPW board had sadly miscalculated. Unit 9 was well along its way toward completion, but the 150,000 kW of electric power the new unit would provide didn’t appear to be quite as necessary as they had just five years before. Demand began to drop off in the second half of 1981, and the slippage accelerated through 1982. Iowa and the Midwest were in the grip of one of the most severe recessions since World War II, and sales to MPW’s industrial customers dropped 18 million kilowatt hours (kWh) during 1982. Water usage of five billion gallons was the lowest annual mark since the mid 1970s.
The recession evaporated as suddenly as it had come on. By May of 1983, when Unit 9 officially came online, business already had begun to rapidly recover. MPW’s record peak of 112,400 kw in August was up 8.9% over the peak of the year before; nearly all the gain was attributed to large power sales.
When it became apparent that the 300,000 kw figure for 1992 peak demand that had been the basis for building Unit 9 was unlikely to occur, MPW began developing its own planning process for the future. In 1987, the utility identified seven broad objectives, including human resources, financials, physical resources, communications and public relations, research and development, social responsibility, and productivity as the basis for its planning efforts.
