Dataset Alaska Observed Hydropower Generation v1.0

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Water Power
Alaska
Hydropower
Generation Data

Alaska Observed Hydropower Generation

This dataset contains observed hydropower generation for hydropower facilities in the State of Alaska assembled from multiple sources and quality-controlled. A dataset containing all generation data from every source, and a dataset containing generation data from the best source are both provided.

Raw data and the processing code for producing these data are found in the ak_observed_generation repository.

Sources

Energy Information Administration (EIA)

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects generation and facility nameplate capacity data every year. Utilities report generation data either monthly or annually. Generation data prior to 2008 were reported on Form EIA-759 and [Forms EIA-906/920](https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia923/eia906u.php). From 2008 through the present, generation data are reported on [Form EIA-923](https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia923/). Nameplate capacity until 1989 were reported on Form EIA-759. Nameplate capacity from 1989 through the present are reported on Form EIA-860.

Alaska Energy Statistics (AES)

Alaska Energy Statistics (AES) data and reports have been released intermittently annually and contain information about energy use in Alaska, including electricity generation. AES compiles generation data from a number of sources, including EIA Forms, the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) through the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program, and directly from utilities.

The Alaska Center for Energy and Power at the University of Alaska Fairbanks maintains a repository of AES workbooks for years 2011-2021 - Alaska Energy Statistics, 2011 - 2021]

They have compiled individual year data into a combined dataset found in the 'Energy_Stats_Generation_Tables.xlsx' workbook on the 'Monthly Gen 2001-2021' tab.

Data for individual years along with their reports produced by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage for the Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) are available through the University of Alaska ScholarWorks database - 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Annual Generation Reports

Individual utilities report generation annually to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Some of these reports are available through FERC's eLibrary. Generation data for several facilities were retrieved from the eLibrary. Source records and processed machine-readable data in the `data/FERC` directory, and there is a readme with additional data description.

Reporting Frequency

In the EIA monthly generation data (in the `data/processed` directory), a 'freq' column is used to indicate data reporting frequency. This flag is consistent with reporting frequency on EIA forms, but modified in some instance for consistency.

Flag — Description

M — data reported monthly

A — data reported annually

AM — data reported monthly and annually

AM/A — data reported monthly and annually

NR — reporting frequency not indicated (a)

(a) even though not all EIA forms report frequency prior to 1996, they are given a 'M' reporting flag as EIA states that reporting was done monthly

In the AES source datasets, when monthly data is available, it is assumed to be reported monthly, and when annual data is available, it is assumed to be reported annually.

In the FERC datasets, data are either provided monthly or annually by utilities.

Monthly data are aggregated to annual data and used if annual data are not available for that year and plant for that data source.

Data Files

The final generation datasets containing the highest-ranked data source passing QA/QC checks are found in -

 

File — Description

generation_ak_annual_final.csv — compiled and qa/qc'd annual generation data

generation_ak_monthly_final.csv — compiled and qa/qc'd monthly generation data

 

Data Structure

The annual generation file has the following structure -

Column — Description

EIA_ID — Energy Information Administration plant ID
AK Plant ID — Alaska Energy Statistics ID
PtName — Existing Hydropower Assets plant name
year — year
generation_mwh — generation in MWh
source — data source (reported as source dataset and it's data source if not reported directly e.g. AES compiles data from EIA, )
source_simple — simplified data source for plotting and evaluation (matches `source_name_tbl`)
type — net or gross generation
quality_flag — QA/QC flags (see below)

The monthly generation file has the same structure, with the addition of a 'month' column.

 

Data QA/QC Flags

 

Flag — Description

A — acceptable
C — passes quality control checks, but > 5 MWh difference between sources
N — generation is < 0 MWh
R — generation falls outside 2 standard deviations of the long-term mean
RN — generation falls outside 2 standard deviations of the long-term mean and < 0 MWh
CN — > 5 MWh difference between sources and generation < 0 MWh
CR — > 5 MWh difference between sources and generation falls outside 2 standard deviations of the long-term mean
CRN — > 5 MWh difference between sources, generation falls outside 2 standard deviations of the long-term mean and < 0 MWh

 

Attributions

Data processing code for EIA forms were modified from code developed for RectifHyd dataset and for the RectifHydPlus dataset.

 

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