Acadiana Load Pocket
Project
Project Background
• Summer of 2002
– load growth, changes to generation dispatch in the
Acadiana Load Pocket (ALP) and reduced ratings on lines
which were damaged during Hurricane Lili result in TLR’s
with in the ALP
• Summer of 2005
– Wells Substation was built which provided an additional
source to the ALP and provided more import capability into
the ALP
• Summer of 2007
– Company specific imports are established which reduce the
number of TLR level 5’s
Project Background Continued
• SPP coordinates a joint planning effort with
Cleco, Entergy and LUS
• Group evaluates multiple options to fix
reliability concerns and provide possible
economic benefits
• In January 2009 Cleco, Entergy, LUS reach
agreement on a project to be built with each
party having some responsibility for the
construction.
ALP Reliability Concerns
• Difficult to perform maintenance on
transmission system even during off peak
conditions (N-2)
• Catastrophic loss of Teche 3
– Operationally the configuration is N-1,G-1
– Rolling blackouts within the ALP
– Voltage concerns
• 2012 N-1 Summer Peak overloads with all
generation in the ALP online.
– Rolling blackouts within the ALP.
ALP Project
Reliability Benefits
• Plans the ALP to N-1, G-1 which will prevent
load shed in the event of a extended outage on
Teche 3 or Bonin 3.
• Creates additional 230 kV sources into the
ALP which will provide maintenance and
operational flexibility.
Economic Benefits
• Majority of economic benefit will be in fuel
cost savings for Cleco and LUS who currently
have must run requirements on generation
within the ALP during certain times of the
year.
Construction Time line
Construction Time line
Construction Time line
Construction Time line
Construction Time line
Questions