Laughlin power plant running

Wednesday, April 4, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

After three consecutive weeks of mechanical problems, both generators at Laughlin's 1,580-megawatt Mohave Generating Station are up and running, Southern California Edison employees said Tuesday.

Local Nevada Power Co. officials have said the Mohave plant will play an important role in keeping Southern Nevada's air conditioners humming this summer -- a critical need when the temperature tops 115 degrees.

Employees for Southern California Edison, the plant operator, said Tuesday that both generating units at the plant were online.

The California Independent System Operator, the nonprofit organization that watches over the Golden State's power supply, reported that one 790-megawatt unit was "curtailed" by 120 megawatts.

One megawatt is enough for about 1,000 homes in cooler months. It is only enough for about half as many homes during hotter months, when air conditioners are cranked up.

The exact status of the two generating units at the plant wouldn't be released by Southern California Edison, which owns 56 percent of the plant. Steve Hansen, a company spokesman, said the information is proprietary -- information that could give a competitor an advantage if it is revealed.

"The operating status is competitive information," Hansen said.

Don Hendren, a Southern California Edison community affairs representative at the Mohave plant, said later Tuesday that both generating units were online.

One or both units have been fully or partly out of commission for at least several days over the past three weeks.

Most of the power produced at the plant goes to California, but Nevada Power officials say 196 megawatts is contracted to Nevada -- and that power is a critical part of the formula to meet anticipated demand over the summer months in the Las Vegas Valley. Nevada Power owns 14 percent of the plant.

Mechanical problems at the plant haven't significantly affected Nevada. A "tripped relay" caused first one unit then the entire plant to go off line for several days the week of March 19.

That loss helped spur a "stage three" power emergency in California and rolling blackouts throughout the state.

An electrical fire March 28 similarly knocked out one unit, then the entire plant. The power loss prompted a stage-two emergency, one level short of the level at which blackouts are possible.

The problems continued at least until Monday morning, when the California Independent System Operator reported that both generating units were offline. One unit came back online by Monday afternoon.

Hansen said the cause of the "tripped relay" two weeks ago and the electrical fire last week "are still under investigation."

An official closer to Las Vegas, however, said the cause of at least the electrical fire is known -- a water leak one floor above electrical equipment. Sonya Headen, a Nevada Power spokeswoman, said the water on the equipment caused a short with some smoke, but little substantial damage.

Hendren, at the Laughlin plant, said the plant should soon cut its power capacity in half. The company needs to shut down one unit for three weeks to a month for previously scheduled maintenance, he said.

If the maintenance isn't done, mechanical problems could lead to a bigger problem, he said. Hendren said the maintenance isn't related to the incidents in March.