The economics of new gas turbine resources in the Pacific Northwest

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic factors that influence the selection of new gas-fired combustion units developed by cogenerators and independent power producers in the Pacific Northwest. Power plants developed by non-utility generators can be economical despite some of the lowest avoided cost rates in the nation. However, the low avoided costs dictate that some plant conceptual designs found elsewhere in the US may not be economical in the Northwest