Electric Generation
BUECI operates a total of seven generators using high pressure natural gas or diesel fuel when needed for temporary back-up. Five generators are turbine engines manufactured by Solar (a division of Caterpillar), and two are reciprocating generators from Caterpillar. The average load factor (amount of system capacity being used) for 2004 was 29%.
Our maximum capacity is 20,500 kilowatts (20.5 megawatts), which is roughly double our peak demand. BUECI’s two largest generators could be inoperable (“down”), and we would still have enough power to keep everyone “on”. This is called “Double Firm Power” generation capacity, and is critical in this environment during winter months.
BUECI has three customer classes: single phase; three-phase; and primary metering.
In January 2005, we had 1,933 electric customers, including residential and commercial.
