Public Power Supply System Research Articles

The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s–1970s by Paul W. Hirt

Reviewed by: The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s–1970s by Paul W. Hirt Richard Hirsh (bio) The Wired Northwest: The History of Electric Power, 1870s–1970s. By Paul W. Hirt. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012. Pp. x+ 461. $49.95. Having a significant social impact in the last 125 years, the electric power system has attracted much scholarly attention. While The Wired Northwest (1983) does not offer novel insights into the process of electrification, as did groundbreaking works such as Thomas Hughes's Networks of Power and David Nye's Electrifying America (1990), it adds clarity to the complex nature of that process as it occurred in America's Pacific Northwest and in Canada's British Columbia. Early chapters describe trends in electrification since the 1870s that others have described elsewhere. Indeed, Hirt graciously demonstrates his appreciation to Hughes, Nye, and other scholars such as Ronald Tobey, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, and Craig Wollner. The author makes original contributions by contrasting events occurring in the Pacific Northwest with those occurring elsewhere. For example, unlike regions that drew on fossil fuels to power electrical generators, the Pacific Northwest benefited greatly by exploiting hydroelectric resources. Though building dams to harness the water's energy incurred large initial costs, it enabled the region to enjoy low electricity prices by relying on a free, natural resource. But cheap power also fostered a culture of abundance—one that inhibited adoption of a more sustainable mindset, especially after the 1973 energy crisis. Thomas Hughes asserted that cross-national studies constitute the equivalent of controlled experiments to social scientists. If that assertion is true, then Hirt has run some insightful experiments with comparative histories of electrification in northwestern American states and in British [End Page 1090] Columbia. For example, in his analyses of the financially solvent Canadian companies of the 1920s, he implicitly challenges claims (made by contemporary American entrepreneurs) that utility firms needed to employ highly leveraged holding companies to enable expansion and good service. On the other hand, America seemed more committed to rural electrification starting in the 1930s. Viewed as an effort to bring equity, progress, and modernity to millions of non-urban residents, New Dealers in Washington, D.C. invested heavily to create public-power resources (such as the Bonneville Power Authority). To be sure, electricity from the newly constructed dams and transmission wires served citizens in cities. But the power also went through newly installed distribution lines operated by Rural Electrification Administration–funded cooperatives and pre-Depression-era public utility districts to energize an increasing number of farms. By contrast, Canada's federal lawmakers did not share America's zeal for public funding or farm electrification. British Columbia's rural residents therefore lagged behind America's until the 1950s, demonstrating the importance of federal policy in the pace and extent of regional electrification efforts. Hirt also spotlights important trends that changed the flavor of the region's electrical system. For example, as in another federally touched region of the United States—the Tennessee Valley—the initial and widespread exploitation of water resources eventually ran up against limits. To deal with the continually increasing demand for power, several utilities created the Washington Public Power Supply System, which sought to finance a series of nuclear power plants. Management, technological, and macroeconomic problems stressed the WPPSS, causing it to default on its bonds in 1982 and to seriously curtail construction plans. Partly as a result, the region began altering its culture of abundance to one that favored conservation and energy efficiency—a culture that thrived especially in Oregon and Washington. Though written as a historical monograph in a constructivist mode, The Wired Northwest also serves as a useful resource for policymakers. Hirt appropriately focuses on the activities of a large number of stakeholders and how some have been disadvantaged throughout the region's history (such as fishery owners and others affected by the poorly managed dammed rivers). He also suggests that the complexity of the region's socio-technical system requires the careful use of government regulatory bodies to negotiate the claims of stakeholders. While one may quibble with Hirt's relatively uncritical characterization of regulatory commissions, arguing that they may have...

Daniel Pope. Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xix + 282 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-40253-8, $91.99 (cloth).

Daniel Pope. Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xix + 282 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-40253-8, $91.99 (cloth).

Review: Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System, by Daniel Pope

Review: <i>Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System</i>, by Daniel Pope

Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System. By Daniel Pope. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. xx, 282 pp. $85.00, ISBN 978-0-521-40253-8.)

In 1957, a public agency called the Washington Public Power Supply System (wppss) was formed to oversee that state's energy needs. It forwarded ambitious plans for a series of five nuclear plants in Washington State, but construction delays and legal wrangles followed. Financial chaos unfolded in the 1980s when the wppss defaulted on its municipal bond scheme. Only one of the planned nuclear plants opened; the others were mothballed or cancelled. In Nuclear Implosions, the historian Daniel Pope of the University of Oregon provides the first detailed study of the controversy. Given the historic importance of hydropower to the Pacific Northwest, a nuclear scheme hardly seemed an obvious direction to take. However, New Deal projects along the Columbia River, most notably the Grand Coulee Dam, promoted the idea that any large-scale, publicly overseen energy project could fuel economic growth. Along with fears of water running dry, the proximity of the first wppss headquarters to Hanford Nuclear Reservation helped encourage a fresh atomic angle to meeting (and surpassing) electrical needs. Early cooperation with the nuclear establishment resulted in the N-Reactor Project, designed to meet the demand for both bombs and kilowatts in the 1960s through the production of plutonium and steam. The joint venture was “emblematic of the symbiosis of the Cold War with the midcentury American boom economy” (p. 46). There was also a significant amount of optimism. The notion of limitless electricity proved eminently seductive: one publication in 1962 boldly claimed that “electric power is like love—nobody ever gets quite enough” (p. 51). Like other wppss schemes, the dual-purpose reactor was struck by crisis. Why did the wppss bid for a nuclear Northwest fail so spectacularly? Pope relates the mammoth challenge faced by a poorly organized agency. He also cites funding oversights and simple planning errors (for example, the design and construction of the five plants lacked standardization). As protesters put it, the wppss promised power without cost, but instead provided “cost without power” (p. 181).

Windshield Wilderness: Cars, Roads, and Nature in Washington's National Parks by David Louter

understands the faults, folds, and fractures of law disguised as public policy. Brooks loves his home and geographical region, and he deftly enters the hearts and minds of the people who played out thisdrama. And he is an indefatigable and honest researcherwith a keen sense of the documents (not a few of them commonly overlooked) thatwill best point the way. The book isalso beautifully and carefully written. Itwill be in all of thePacific Northwest environmental collections for the foreseeable future. The author needs all his talents to sustain the tale.The environmental hero of the story, Idaho Power, is an unsympathetic David to theGoliath of thefederal government. Brooks trieshard: "More modest dams would better mesh human demands, company profits, and fishery imperativeswith theNorthwest's rhythmicwinter snows and spring runoffs" (p. 134).Modest dams or not, Idaho Power would quickly kill thefish ? counseled in the process, no doubt, by the "first witness" they would call before theFederal Power Commis sion, retiredU.S. Army Corps of Engineers North PacificCommander Thomas Robins (p. 201). This isthe man whose most notable con tribution to fish-hydro interactions was his insight that "ifyou could put amule through [the turbines] and keep him from drowning he would go through without being hurt" (LisaMighetto andWesley J. Ebel, Saving the Salmon: A History of theUS. Army Corps of Engineers' Efforts toProtectAnadromous Fish on theColumbia and Snake Rivers,Historical Research Associates, 1994). Brooks also had the unenviable job of bringing suspense and curiosity to the "public interest" decision making of theFederal Power Commission ? now theFederal EnergyRegu latory Commission (FERC) but stillone of the most dreary, unrepentant, and uninspired outposts in thehistory of administrative law. The author's ability to bring credibility and authenticity to thedeliberations of thisagency is alone worth theprice of thebook. The historiographical talents so convinc ingly displayed by Brooks in this story of the unbuilt great dam make us yearn for the sequels. One is a fuller storyof theNez Perce tribe's resistance to thisorgy of dam-building in theirhomelands. (The author was drawn into thisproject initiallyas an attorney for the Nez Perce.) But the tribesdo not get fullbilling here. "By trying to work alone," Brooks writes, "the treatytribesencountered deep-rooted ju dicial and administrative racism that inhibited theirpostwar legaloptions" (p. 220). That hap pened, to be sure, but it was not a consequence of the tribes"tryingtowork alone." Brooks does a splendid job of showing how theBonneville PowerAdministration assumed itsroles of partner, planner, and promoter of public power in the Pacific Northwest. The sequel would be an account of Bonneville's subsequent turn tonuclear power in the 1970s and 1980s,which led to the $7 billion regional debacle known as WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System). The author could tell thisstoryas fewothers might. Public Power,Pri vateDams is a fine talewith room for more. William H. Rodgers, Jr. University of Washington School ofLaw WINDSHIELDWILDERNESS: CARS,ROADS,AND NATUREIN WASHINGTON'S NATIONALPARKS by David Louter University of Washington Press, Seattle, 2006. Illustrations, photographs, maps, notes, bibliography, index. 257 pages. $35.00 cloth. Recently, historians have been unkind to the National Park Service (NPS), takingthefederal agency to task for itsembrace of automobiles, tourism, and consumer culture at the expense of wilderness and nature. Into thesewaters wades David Louter, a historian employed by theNPS who examines the evolving re lationship between Washington state's three national parks and theautomobile. Windshield Reviews 135 Wilderness isa nuanced treatmentof the NPS's evolving understanding of the automobiles and roads that give the drivingmasses access to pristine nature within the parks. Perhaps themost important insight Louter provides is thatwilderness and roads have not always been mutually exclusive categories, even after wilderness came tobe associated with the lack of roads. For those familiarwith the effortstobuild theColumbia RiverHighway during the 1910s, the discussion ofMt. Rainier National Park may seem familiar.Louter notes thatpark of ficials, such as NPS director StephenMather, embraced strategiesof landscape architectsand engineers to develop a harmonious relation ship between nature and themachine. Using localmaterials that seemed natural, theybuilt winding roads that emphasized the unfold ingof scenery as they slowly climbed into the high country. Park Superintendent Owen A. Tomlinson believed the roads that would make Mt. Rainier "accessible to the people...

The Nontrial Adversarial Model

JOEL SELIGMAN [*] I INTRODUCTION During past two decades, a nontrial adversarial model has evolved for deciding private law claims. Underlying this evolution are three different types of dynamics: (1) a dramatic growth in size of class actions, epitomized by Washington Public Power Supply System litigation of 1980s [1] and Court's approval of fraud-on-the-market presumption, rather than a requirement of individual proof of fraud, in Basic, Inc. v Levinson; [2] (2) a significant growth in cost and litigation leverage of discovery; [3] and (3) a fundamental shift in political orientation of Congress in litigation, illustrated by gravitation from unanimous support for greater insider trading penalties during 1980s [4] to hostility toward plaintiffs' attorneys after 1994 congressional election. [5] While this nontrial adversarial model is not unique to field, it is more pronounced in private class actions than in most other areas. Virtually every private class action in recent years has been resolved through a pretrial motion or a settlement. [6] A trial on merits is a rare exception. [7] The central issue raised as a result of this shift is whether nontrial adversarial model makes sense in area of litigation. Professor Elliott Weiss supports this shift in his article Pleading Securities Fraud. [8] However, answer to this question should await a more comprehensive study of Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). II DEVELOPMENT OF THE NONTRIAL ADVERSARIAL MODEL The origins of this shift to nontrial adversarial model can be traced back to Supreme Court's discussion of strike suits in its 1975 decision Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores. [9] There, Supreme Court expressed its concern regarding potential for a large number of plaintiffs in class actions to abuse their leverage under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure's discovery rules to force settlements in frivolous lawsuits. [10] As a result, after Blue Chip Stamps, successful assertion of a [Rule 9(b)] defense based on failure of a plaintiff to have pleaded fraud with sufficient particularity increased in federal securities cases. [11] Underlying this increase in number of dismissals based on Rule 9(b) motions were profound changes in judicial interpretation of Rule's application in private cases. During this period, federal courts found Rule to require them to dismiss claims that were mere conclusory allegations to effect that a defendant's conduct was fraudulent or in violation of Rule 10b-5, [12] or that defendant's reports represented a false, misleading, and inflated picture of assets, earnings, and business. [13] An example of this interpretation of Rule is found in following statement by First Circuit Court of Appeals in Wayne Investment Inc. v. Gulf Oil Corp.: It is well settled that Rule 9 'requires specification of time, place, and content of an alleged false representation, but not circumstances or evidence from which fraudulent intent could be inferred.' [14] This opinion epitomized movement toward stricter pleading requirements for fraud for plaintiffs under Rule 9(b) after Blue Chip Stamps. Despite this growing trend, [o]n a motion to dismiss, [courts still] read complaint generously and drew all inferences in favor of pleader. [15] Courts still gave deference to plaintiffs' complaint for two central reasons. First, Rule 9(b) did not require the pleading of detailed evidentiary matter. [16] This meant that courts could not get a clear idea of strength of a case prior to discovery phase of litigation. As a result, judges needed to be more cautious in dismissing claims to protect valid lawsuits. …

Analysis of WNP-2 Single-Loop Operation Using RETRAN-02

A limiting transient under single-loop operation (SLO) conditions was analyzed to establish the analytical capability to support SLO for Washington Public Power Supply System’s WNP-2.In the WNP-2 RETRAN model, each of the two recirculation loops is simulated separately. Under the SLO condition, the unaffected loop provides ~50% core flow with a power of ~72%.Two steady-state cases were run using actual plant data under single-loop conditions to show that the model initializes correctly. The plant data were collected from the cycle 2 SLO. An additional benchmark was performed using the single-recirculation-pump test data collected during the power ascension test in the initial startup phase of WNP-2. The calculated reverse flow of the idle loop compared well with the measured data from the single recirculation pump trip test.After the benchmarking, a limiting transient, i.e., generator load rejection without bypass, was analyzed for cycle 8. The resulting power, flow, and pressure histories were compared with the fuel supplier’s results. The Supply System results for the limiting transient showed reasonably good comparison with the fuel supplier’s results, with the Supply System model yielding more conservative results. In addition, hot-channel analyses indicate that the SLO thermal limits are bounded by those from the two-loop operations.

Reinventing electric utilities: competition, citizen action, and clean power

The authors consider the challenges for citizens and the utility industry in this new era of competition. Through an in-depth case study of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), a once-troubled utility that is now widely regarded as a model for energy efficiency and renewable energy development, they explore the changes that have occurred in the utility industry, and the implications of those changes for the future. The SMUD portrait is complemented by regional case studies of Portland General Electric and the Washington Public Power Supply System, the New England Electric Service, Northern States Power, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, and others that highlight the efforts of citizen groups and utilities to eliminate unproductive and environmentally damaging sources of power and to promote the use of new, cleaner energy technologies. The authors present and explain some of the fundamental principles that govern restructuring, while acknowledging that solutions will depend upon the unique resource needs, culture, and utility structure of each particular region.

The WPPSS mess, or “What's in a bond rating?”: A case study

This paper traces the history of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) Projects 4 and 5 bond default, and evaluates Moody's ratings of the bonds in light of the facts available at the time, utilizing among other things a database and a ratings model developed for 1977 based on Moody's own statements as to what variables are important in its ratings determinations. The model is reasonably successful in replicating Moody's 1977 ratings generally, although many of the variables described as important by Moody's turn out to be insignificant statistically. When the model is applied to WPPSS 4 and 5 participant utilities, it becomes evident that the System's 1977 bonds should have been given a below-investment grade rating consistent with Moody's model-revealed standards. The paper concludes with a 1981 model update and some conjectures as to why the misratings occurred, as well as why the bonds could ever have been sold to the public.

Due diligence and the demand for electricity: A cautionary tale

In 1983, the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) defaulted on tax-free revenue bonds issued to construct two of its five nuclear power plants. In subsequent litigation, the plaintiffs alleged that the bonds had been fraudulently issued because WPPSS and the other defendants should reasonably have known and disclosed that there was “substantial uncertainty” about the ability to meet the financial obligations created by the bonds. A model using plausible values for demand elasticities, recognized probabilities of events that would increase costs and delay construction and data used by WPPSS to construct demand forecasts for prospective bondholders suggests that such uncertainty was present at the time the bonds were issued. The values for demand elasticities and other parameters of the model were selected after a thorough review of the econometric literature on demand for electricity, beginning with the work of Fisher and Kaysen in 1962.

Burn injuries in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The pattern of burn injuries in Port Harcourt, Nigeria is presented for the first time. Ninety-two patients were studied and 43 (46.74 per cent) of them were children in the 0–5 years age range. Thirty-seven of the children in this group suffered from scalds and six from flame burns. Petrol fire was the commonest cause of flame burns. The overall mortality was 26.09 per cent and the majority of deaths occurred in burns covering over 50 per cent of the total body surface area. Improved parental supervision of children, in particular toddlers, a more reliable public power supply system, a ban on carrying petrol in open containers in the streets and public enlightenment campaigns are advocated by the authors as preventive measures.

THE EFFECT OF THE WPPSS CRISIS ON THE TAX‐EXEMPT BOND MARKET

AbstractThe 1983 default of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) was the largest municipal default. Some writers contend that the default affected the entire municipal bond market. This study examines the effect of key WPPSS‐related events on the general municipal market, tax‐exempt public power district bonds, and WPPSS bonds, respectively. The results show that although certain events significantly affected all WPPSS bonds, these events did not affect the general municipal bond market or non‐WPPSS public power bonds. The use of a standard event‐time methodology with daily bond prices (as opposed to monthly yields) appears to provide a more powerful test of the effect of a municipal crisis on the tax‐exempt bond market.

Finite Element Analysis of Boiling Water Reactor Fuel Channel Bulge and Bow

Boiling water reactor fuel channels bulge and bow because of pressure, temperature, fast neutron flux, and their gradients. Channel deformations can be calculated by means of the finite element technique. Calculated bulge and bow results for WNP-2 fuel channels in different core locations and at different power levels have been obtained as functions of core residence time. In general, channel bulge is largest at the core center and decreases toward the core periphery. Bulge increases with the power level and the core residence time. Channel bow is largest at the core periphery and decreases for the next two rows of channels radially inward. Bow rate is highest in the first reactor cycle and then decreases. After an initial period, bow ceases to increase with residence time and may even decrease. The analytical results are being used by the Channel Management Program at Washington Public Power Supply System to optimize the utilization of fuel channels.

WPPSS: Some Basic Lessons for Public Enterprise Managers

In the summer of 1983, the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) defaulted on $2.5 billion in municipal bonds—the largest default ever to hit the tax-free municipal bond market. Although many factors may have been involved in the WPPSS project collapse and default, the least understood and perhaps most important was inadequate management. A 1981 Washington State Senate Committee investigation of project cost increases and schedule delays concluded that mismanagement was primarily to blame. Why and how poor management helped lead to the WPPSS default suggests important lessons for managers in the private as well as public sectors. Although WPPSS, like other public enterprises, had the freedom and power to carry out business-like government activities, it was never managed in a business-like fashion. A recognition of this potential for failure is important for the development of good public enterprise managers, as well as for adequate state and local government public enterprise oversight mechanisms.

Some Lessons in the Political Economy of Megapower: Wppss and the Municipal Bond Market

The municipal bond market is the institutional mechanism for allocating capital to cities and other tax-exempt borrowers. A key function of this market is to provide investors and borrowers with information that allows them to gauge relative degrees of risk in bond sales, including the possibility of default. The present study examines the risk signals communicated by the municipal bond market to potential investors in five nuclear power plant proposed by the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) during 1973–1982. The behavior of WPPSS bonds is compared with other electric revenue bond issues floated during the same time period. Based on pooled regression analysis, it is concluded that the municipal bond market did not encourage least-cost capital or energy choices in the Pacific Northwest, and it cannot be expected to forecast the full risks of megapower projects such as WPPSS.

THE RISK STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES AND INTERDEPENDENT BORROWING COSTS: THE IMPACT OF MAJOR DEFAULTS

AbstractThis paper develops a new methodology for evaluating the impact of economic events on bond yields. Term structure information and implicit forward rates are used to generate expected bond yields, and the difference between actual and expected yields is interpreted as the information effect of the event. The methodology is applied to two studies of municipal default: the New York City default and the more recent Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) default. The analysis provides evidence that the New York City default did have a significant impact on the interest cost of municipal financing in general. In the case of WPPSS, however, there is no indication of a significant default impact.

Effects Of Single- And Three-Pole Switching And High-Speed Reclosing On Turbine-Generator Shafts And Blades

A cause of high cycle fatigue in turbine blades is the resonance of blade vibratory modes with steam excitation. Single-pole switching (SPS) and high-speed reclosing (HSR) can excite 120 Hz torque oscillations that may resonate with the coupled blade-rotor torsional natural frequency and inflict damage on the blades. Using a new advanced continuum model, this paper analyzes the effect of SPS and HSR on the turbine blades of specific machines in the Pacific Power and Light Co. (PP&L) and the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) systems. Additionally, the stresses on the shaft of the same machines due to SPS and HSR are also analyzed and compared with the stresses on the shaft for a three-pole tripping and a high-speed reclosing operation for the same system disturbance.

Notes - Two-Part Tariffs and the "Spiral of Impossibility" in the Market for Electricity

The author argues against the ''spiral of impossibility'' theory that utilities might not be able to raise adequate revenues on the grounds that utilities have other ways to raise money than the marginal price of electricity. A two-part tariff which raises customer prices will work better than raising the marginal price because users place a high value on access to electric power. He cites the Washington Public Power Supply System situation to illustrate that the public would pay higher costs with little change to their consumption habits. 1 figure.

Containment Liner Anchor Load Tests

Tests were performed to determine shear load‐displacement relationships for three different anchors used to attach a steel liner to the concrete in a reinforced concrete primary containment: (1) The metric tee 100mm×100mm with 1/4‐in. (6.4‐mm) fillet welds which was used to anchor the containment liner at the Public Service Company of New Hampshire's Seabrook Station; (2) the WT 4×7.5 with 3/16‐in. (5‐mm) fillet welds used at the Washington Public Power Supply System's Nuclear Power Station; and (3) 3/4‐in. (19‐mm) diameter × 12‐in. (305‐mm) long studs, also used at Seabrook. A 3/8‐in. (10‐mm) thick liner plate was used. The test specimens consisted of tees which were 12 in. (305 mm) long or two studs spaced 12 in. (305 mm) apart embedded in a concrete block 40in.×36in.27in.(1,016×914×686mm). The specimens were fabricated and cast at Seabrook. The tests were controlled by dialing in a voltage at the test console which corresponded to a known deflection; the load necessary to produce this deflection was then recorded. Loaddeflection curves for all tests are presented as a conservative representation of the shear load‐deflection behavior of a loaded anchor.

Remote Multiplexing System Application to a Nuclear Generating Station - An Update

A previous paper (1) gave a preliminary description of a Remote Multiplexing System (RMS) for the Washington Public Power Supply System's Nuclear Project No. 2 in its initial design stage. This paper describes the final design including Class IE qualification requirements and testing. It is believed that this is the first time a RMS design has been used in Class IE systems and for such extensive control and data gathering applications to achieve substantial economy and flexability in a nuclear power generating station. It is hoped that valuable experience will be obtained from this installation and will pave the way for further RMS applications.