Cycling fossil-fired units proves costly business

Competition in the electric utility business is having a far-reaching impact. Cost-cutting measures have in major downsizing efforts in virtually every utility in the country. After several cost-cutting rounds to reduce the low hanging fruit of inefficiency, utilities are still challenged to become leaner and meaner in order to compete in a deregulated environment. The problem for many power utilities, however, is they have not precisely determined their costs in every aspect of the plant`s operation. Naturally, obtaining an accurate understanding of expenditures is the starting point for utilities that wish to develop strategic plans to better manage assets, minimize costs and maximize return on investment better understand plant O&M costs and take measures to use this knowledge to their advantage. Cycling is a major reason for the increase in O&M costs of many fossil units. Cycling, in this context, refers to the operation of generating units at varying load levels in response to changes in system-load requirements.