 |
MINIMIZING IMPACTS THROUGH FUEL DIVERSITY
A diverse fuel supply is critical to our ability to provide
competitively priced electricity and to assure a reliable supply
of energy. To help understand the company’s
current fuel mix, it is important to briefly review
TXU’s fuel history.
In the late 1960s, peak electric demand was
rising steadily, natural gas prices were becoming
more uncertain and fuel suppliers were
increasingly reluctant to renew long-term
contracts. Developments like these prompted
the company to begin long-term planning to diversify its fuel sources.
|
|
 |
|
In the early 1970s, the company began operating
and planning new power plants using Texas
lignite coal as a fuel source. The wisdom of this
decision became clear when natural gas prices
increased, supplies were curtailed, the 1973 Oil
Embargo occurred and both state and national
governments took actions to limit the use of
natural gas in electric generation.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the
company added several new lignite power plants
to its fleet and ultimately began supplementing
this fuel with western coal. In the early 1990s,
the nuclear-fueled Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station
began
|
|
prev next
