■ The power plant needs to produce higher amounts of power to supply
energy to the town during peak hours, not just the average usage.
■ The power plant needs to plan for possible future growth of the town.
■ The power plant was built over capacity to provide a source of income
to the town.(d) Assuming that the population of Thorpeville remains the same for the next
20 years, and that electricity consumption remains stable per household,
what would be the cost (expressed in $ per kWh) of electricity to the
residents over the next 20 years if they decided to go with wind turbines?
2 points. 1 point for correct setup. 1 point for correct answer with
calculations. Alternative setups are acceptable. If your answer in part (b) is
incorrect but you appropriately use it as the basis for the calculations for
answering the question in part (d), you will receive full credit for answering
part (d) if the setup and calculations are correct, even if the answer is not
correct.
Based on current community consumption of 8 × 107 kWh/yr from part (b):
(e) What are the pros and cons of the existing coal-burning plant compared
with the proposed wind farm?
Pros Cons
WIND: The electricity produced from the
wind turbines costs $0.016 per kWh, but each
homeowner would also have to pay
$25,000,000/8,000 homes = $3,125.00 over 20
years ($156.25/yr) to pay for the wind
turbines. 10,000 kWh at $0.016 per kWh for
electricity produced from wind turbines =
$160 plus $156.25 per year to pay for the wind
turbines = $316.25 per year.
COAL: Electricity costs $0.12
per kWh produced from the
coal-burning plant. 10,000
kWh of electricity per year
from the coal-burning plant at
$0.12 per kWh = $1,200 per
year. Clearly, electricity
produced from wind turbines
is much cheaper.