Modernizing the Columbia River Power Equation

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Published: Friday, 20 September 2019 18:21

Operation of the Columbia River stands at the nexus of attaining goals for a future that supports zero-carbon power, salmon recovery and reintroduction, flood control, and meeting water needs for families, industry and farms. Finding the sweet spot to support these multiple needs and demands would be difficult under the best of circumstances.

The circumstances currently being faced, however, may more accurately be described as an age of uncertainty. Changing climate conditions, for instance, create more uncertainty around snowpack, river flows, water temperatures, water availability and fisheries. Transboundary efforts to build resiliency into the system as a backstop to uncertainty will be major topics at the Forum Conference. Register now.

The conference will also highlight how modernizing the Columbia River power equation is vital to creating the resiliency needed to address climate change and other environmental goals.

This year, Washington State passed legislation committing the state’s electricity supply to be carbon neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by 2045. For Washington and other Northwest states that may adopt similar legislation, meeting this goal while meeting other Columbia River economic, cultural and environmental demands will be a challenge.

Part of the challenge is something called load balancing. Wind doesn’t always blow, the sun doesn’t always shine, and severe cold snaps or heat waves happen. In a world with far less or no coal and natural gas power plants, finding the capacity to meet peak demands under adverse circumstances requires modernizing more than just current plants and bringing on new wind and solar energy resources.

Sid Morrison, former U.S. Congressman and current chair of the Executive Board for Energy Northwest, will provide a keynote that peeks at what a modernized Columbia River power equation may look like. He’ll look at options that range from building pumped storage hydropower projects on the Columbia to adding small nuclear modular reactors; and he’ll consider the level of investment needed, impacts from California’s power markets and integration with the environmental landscape. Energy Northwest is a consortium of 27 public utility districts and municipalities across Washington. Included in their services is operation of nuclear, wind, hydro and solar projects.

“Sid’s talk is timely because it’s also happening against a backdrop of Columbia River tensions at the federal level that extend beyond Columbia River Treaty negotiations,” said Forum Executive Director Andy Dunau.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the federal agency that markets power from Northwest federal hydroelectric projects and a nuclear plant, has increased rates charged to Northwest utilities by 30% over the past nine years. That’s partly in response to higher hydropower maintenance costs, a situation that will get worse. This year’s maintenance costs are projected to be $130 million. By 2021 it’s projected to be $256 million and by 2023 $300 million. At the same time, BPA projects fish and wildlife mitigation funding being reduced by $30 million dollars for the next fiscal year and recently announced it will not increase average wholesale base power rates for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

“Obviously, finding ways to deliver clean, reliable, affordable power while meeting environmental goals is getting more difficult,” said Dunau.

“The conference is a place where we’re trying to sort out how various pieces fit together, look at how the future may play out and, most importantly, provide a safe place for varying interests to dialog and hopefully find common ground.”