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Show Needs and Potentialities in the Basin The utility systems in the Alabama power area, with approximately 906,000 kilowatts installed ca- pacity, had a peak demand of 955,000 kilowatts in 1949. Power capacity sources from outside the area, principally the Tennessee Valley Authority, supplied part of the maximum demand. Power market studies made by the Federal Power Com- mission indicate that an increase in demand of 665,000 kilowatts is to be expected by 1970. This would bring the total peak demand to 1,620,000 kilowatts within the next 20 years. Taking into account the scheduled construction of steam plants and retirement of obsolete plants, it is estimated that capacity additions totaling more than 800,000 kilowatts will be required by that date to meet the forecast load. Additional energy requirements will be about 4.1 billion kilowatt-hours a year by 1970. If a major portion of the approved plan (see table 2) for the Alabama-Goosa River were con- structed, most of the required capacity for the Ala- bama power area would be provided. The remain- der could be supplied by steam plants or by power plants on the Tombigbee River. The undeveloped power at 24 projects in the Alabama-Coosa Basin amounts to slightly more than 4.5 billion kilowatt- hours in the average year and to nearly as much during dry years because of the total usable storage provided in the plan-8 million acre-feet. With undeveloped power possibilities estimated at 1,307,000 kilowatts for the Alabama-Coosa Basin and 2,1203000 kilowatts for the entire Mobile Basin, it is evident that more than the required new capacity in the Alabama area, of the order of 800,000 kilowatts, could be provided by additional hydroelectric plants. For the entire southeastern region the estimated power required by 1970 amounts to 14 million kilo- watts. &£ore than half of this load will be in the Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi area. Potential power markets in this area can absorb most of the undeveloped power of the Mobile Basin along with the power which can be generated on rivers in Georgia. The large concentration of power in the Mobile Basin will find a market partly within the watershed and partly by transmission to bordering areas eastward to Georgia and to the Tennessee Valley system, where the need for power is great and where the Tennessee River hydroelec- tric power has been largely developed. Programs To Develop the Potential Construction of the authorized Howell Mill Shoals, Jones Bluff, and Millers Ferry Projects would provide 300,000 kilowatts of capacity. These projects are well justified economically for power, flood control, and navigation and are lo- cated near existing transmission lines. The power could be used in the Southern Companies 2 system as soon as the projects can be built. This intial step would be a small part of the total approved plan. All other power projects in the plan should be investigated to determine more clearly and broadly the relationship between steam plants and potential hydroelectric development in the entire Mobile Basin. Further programs will involve ar- rangement for transmitting large amounts of power and regional coordination of power use. The best use of the potential hydroelectric power of the Alabama-Coosa River will be in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Authority system and with the Southern Companies. Transmission sys- tems must be enlarged and interconnecting tie lines built to make possible the interchange of electricity from New Orleans and Florida northward to Kentucky. (See figure 5.) Navigation Improvements, Minimum Channel Depth, and Tonnage The first Federal improvement of the Alabama- Coosa River was a series of locks and dams in the Coosa River to enable shallow-draft navigation to reach Rome. As that early type of traffic disap- peared and power dams were built across the lower river, the need for navigation structures ended and they have been abandoned. Commercial navigation is now limited to the lower reaches of the Alabama River. No naviga- tion structures are maintained at the present time. Controlling channel depth to Montgomery is about 3/2 feet. No commerce has been reported on the Coosa River since 1940. On the Alabama River, recent average annual movement has been about 78,000 tons. This tonnage is made up of gravel, sand, 2 The Southern Companies include Georgia Power Co., Alabama Power Co., Gulf Power Co., and Mississippi Power Co. 536 |