Powering a Bright Future
Background
Located on the edge of Salt Lake and Utah counties at the north end of Utah Lake, Lehi is home to Utah’s rapidly expanding tech sector.
With companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Xactware putting down roots within its service territory—and with a 134 percent increase in population since 2000—Lehi City Power realized it was time to replace its outdated facility with a new campus to keep pace with the explosive growth.
In 2011, Lehi City Power and city officials began a four-year planning process that ultimately led to the selection of Cat dealer Wheeler Machinery to serve as general contractor for a $17.5 million campus, which includes the main office, warehouse, shop, and a new distributed energy facility used for peak shaving to reduce the cost of power from the energy grid.
Solution
Located behind the new 17,000 square-foot office of Lehi City Power, the Broadbent Generation Facility first opened in March 2018. It has three Cat G3520H generator sets that produce 7.2 MW of power during times of peak demand, when energy prices are high.
The Cat G3520H gensets run on natural gas, with the option to use a blend of up to 25% hydrogen and meet most worldwide emissions standards down to 0.5 grams per brake horsepower-hour. To further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, Lehi City Power utilizes a Selective Catalytic Reduction system, which helps make their plant one of the cleanest running plants in Utah.
Results
When the price of energy peaks, Lehi can now run their own gensets to offset the cost. Including all operating and maintenance expenses, it costs Lehi between $40 to $55 per megawatt to operate the facility. Current costs to purchase energy from the grid can vary anywhere from $20 to $300 per megawatt hour, depending on demand.
After rebuilding a local substation, voltage on a main transmission line will increase from 46 kV to 138 kV, making its new distributed energy system more reliable and robust. This will enable the Broadbent facility to operate in island mode and provide electricity to the city in the event of a grid outage.
According to the Utah Department of Air Quality, the plant is clean enough to run 24/7 year-round if necessary.
Testimonial
“Once Wheeler was selected, we worked hard to come up with the best ideas with our team, Wheeler’s team, and (subcontractor) Hughes General Contractors until we arrived at the end product. Once that was determined, things went really smoothly.
In the end, it’s amazing the relationship that we maintained with Wheeler, Hughes, and all the subcontractors. To this day, we feel like everyone did a great job.”
Joel Eves, Director – Lehi City Power
