Power for Progress: Millions of megawatt-hours, one true purpose

Power for Progress…

A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

Millions of megawatt-hours, one true purpose

The list of the nation’s largest publicly owned electric utilities always includes the Grand River Dam Authority.

GRDA is there because of diverse mixture of gas, coal, water, and wind resources that have been developed throughout the utility’s 80-plus years of service to Oklahoma. In a typical year, that mixture combines to produce enough power for the Authority to be ranked as the 24th largest publicly owned utility (by generation) in the United States (per latest American Public Power Association statistics).

Not only does GRDA power reach across Oklahoma but it also goes into other states, helping to meet the electricity demands across a large area. What started out in one hydroelectric powerhouse on the Grand River in 1940 has now become a major supplier in a four-state region.

Of course, generating and delivering such a large amount of electricity round-the-clock is a team effort that includes a dedicated, skilled workforce at multiple facilities performing hundreds of different tasks. There are plant operations to perform, mechanical systems to maintain, meters to read, power lines to patrol, electricity to dispatch, systems to monitor and many other tasks that are part of the chain to deliver abundant, reliable electricity to customers.

Because GRDA does all this while operating a significant portion of the national electric power grid, it must comply with the regulations of oversight agencies such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

To accomplish this, there is a staff of NERC-certified employees who oversee the generation, transmission, and accounting of every single megawatt of power across its system.  That power may come from a number of different GRDA generators, but it always passes under the watchful eye of Team GRDA personnel who have planned for it, produced it, tracked it, and delivered it.

Ultimately, it reaches into Oklahoma homes and businesses, where, without too much thought, a switch is flipped, or a button is pushed, and the one true purpose of the power is finally realized. Yet even then, the process to produce more – much more – is always underway at GRDA.