CPS Energy recently dedicated Unit 2 of the J.K. Spruce coal-fired plant located at Calaveras Lake. The new 750-megawatt plant is already reducing monthly electric bills for our customers. The state-of-the-art plant also adds to CPS Energy's diverse portfolio of cleaner technologies that provide energy to San Antonio in a responsible and efficient way.
Spruce 2 is the largest and most efficient of our six units at the Calaveras Power Station. It can provide power to almost 200,000 homes. Spruce 2 joins the original Spruce unit (also coal-fired), J.T. Deely (two coal-fired plants) and O.W. Sommers (two natural gas-fired plants) at the southeast San Antonio site.
Spruce 2 was a 50-month, $1 billion construction project that required an estimated 3.4 million man-hours to construct. The structure includes: more than 12,000 tons of steel; 61,000 cubic yards of concrete; 200,000 linear feet of piping; and 621 miles of cabling.
Following the four-year construction process, CPS Energy began temporary operation of Spruce 2 in preparation for final acceptance of the plant. From May through the end of August, operation of Spruce 2 saved CPS Energy customers $45 million, compared to power that would have been purchased from the state grid.
The operation of Spruce 2 saves each household customer an average of about $4 per month—that’s a reduction of almost $50 each year for every household in our community.
Detailed performance testing has confirmed that Spruce 2 has greater efficiency than planned and is capable of generating 780 megawatts of energy. The plant will supply one quarter of the electricity our community needs each year.
At the height of the project, 1,800 people were employed at this site and $83 million were spent locally on supplies, materials and contractors.
More than $250 million of the best available emissions-control equipment was incorporated into Unit 2 of J.K. Spruce. We have invested another $250 million to upgrade emissions controls on existing coal units.
Spruce 2 is a key element of CPS Energy’s Strategic Energy Plan adopted by our Board of Trustees in June 2003. The plan sought to: provide low-cost, competitively priced electricity; meet environmental commitments; promote energy conservation; and expand renewable energy resources such as wind and solar.
