OCR Text |
Show show 1955 to 1965 annual growth rates of 13.^, 11.9, and 10.5 percent, respectively. In 1965, the electric utility generating capacity installed and under construction in the Region amounted to more than U.3 million kilowatts. Total facilities included ik hydroelectric plants with 1.7 million kilowatts installed capacity, 17 steam-electric plants with installed capacity of 2.5 million kilowatts, and 16 internal com- bustion electric plants with 0.12 million kilowatts installed capacity. Industrial and miscellaneous power installations consisting of lk steam plants and 5 internal combustion plants have a total installed capacity of 2^0 megawatts. Though land requirements for power plants in the Lower Colorado Region are insignificant in amount, careful planning and site selec- tion will be required to minimize environmental damages. The annual amount of water consumed for electric power production in the Lower Colorado Region in 19&5 was only about 10,000 acre-feet. Exact quantities of water storage required for power production are not available on a regional basis because virtually all of the water used by hydroelectric plants is stored for other primary purposes. Through interconnection, power is exchanged with the California, Great Basin, and Upper Colorado Regions; a part of western New Mexico, Mexico, and the Federal Hydroelectric System of the Missouri River Basin. Principal electric facilities existing in 1965 are shown on the map following page 52. The following graph depicts the classifications of consumers using electricity in 1965 in the Lower Colorado Region: CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRIC POWER CONSUMERS PERCENT OF TOTAL PRODUCTION IN 1965 52 |