The City of Vineland, NJ Municipal Electric Utility (VMEU) required an evaluation of power generation economics associated with its generating assets to determine the best course of action to meet future energy and environmental requirements at the least cost.

VMEU’s annual energy requirements and peak load were expected to continue to increase given forecasted economic growth. (e.g., peak demand growth at 4-5 percent per year). This growth, along with the operating challenges of VMEU’s generating units, prompted the City to seek MJB’s assistance in evaluating the economic viability of its generating fleet. MJB evaluated which option, among a series of potential alternatives, provides VMEU with the most cost effective long term energy supply plan to meet system load growth in a manner commensurate with its risk profile.

The scope of the project included: 1) an overview of the physical condition of each asset; 2) market modeling of PJM including 10 year energy and capacity price forecasts at the Vineland hub, and 10 year cost forecasts for each asset; 3) net present value analyses (10 year) for each asset based on base, high and low forecasts of fuel prices, energy prices and future demand growth; and 4) development of recommendations for each asset based on the analyses.