(PASCO, WA) -- In resolutions highlighting their value to
the environment and economy of the Pacific Northwest, thirty utilities across
the state of Washington continue to support the four hydroelectric dams on
eastern Washington’s Lower Snake River. In recent years, environmental groups
have targeted the dams for removal.
Boards of Commissioners for public utility districts, and
Boards of Trustees for Cooperatives, as well as cities and Energy Northwest
continue to pass resolutions firmly stating that the “removal of elements of
the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS), including the Lower Snake
River Dams would negatively impact our utility/city’s responsibility to provide
reliable, efficient, clean and affordable power to its customers.”
“Removing the Lower Snake Dams is bad for the state of
Washington and the region. Locally they mean efficient energy at an affordable
cost and greater energy reliability for Franklin PUD customers,” said Franklin
PUD Board President Roger Wright. “But to the region, especially Eastern
Washington and the Columbia River Gorge, the impacts are even greater. They
impact the lives of thousands of families through irrigation, navigable
waterways, and outdoor recreation.”
Without the energy generated by the dams, the reliable flow
of energy from the FCRPS would be threatened, a fact illustrated by a 2017
report from the Bonneville Power Administration.
“In January of 2017, when thousands of households across the
Northwest needed power to stay warm, the output from wind generators varied
from 3000 to 74 megawatts. Those are not numbers you can plan on to reliably power
homes and businesses. At that same time, the Lower Snake Dams were generating
nearly 1300 megawatts,” stated Dave Ward, General Manager, Grays Harbor PUD in
Aberdeen, WA.
As the state moves closer to its new clean energy era there
is increasing uncertainty in how utilities will provide reliable electric
service. The biggest change is the rapid retirement and planned shutdown of
coal‐fired
power plants from the northwest power grid. The Northwest Power and
Conservation Council (NWPCC) Power Supply Adequacy Assessment for 2024 identified
the possibility that as much as 4,800 megawatts of coal‐fired
generating capacity (equivalent to four Columbia Generating Station nuclear
plants) could be retired in the region between now and 2028 and that without utility
actions to build new plants with the ability to run during peak electricity
demand scenarios, there could be a 26% probability by 2026 that grid operators
may have to resort to some level of blackouts to maintain power grid stability.
“Removal of the Snake River dams will erode the clean power supply portfolio
that 135 BPA customers rely upon,” said Benton PUD Commissioner Jeff Hall. “Where
will BPA customers turn to make up for the loss of this low‐cost
baseload power supply?”
Proponents of dam removal often cite the impact the dams
have on the salmon runs that Southern Resident Killer Whales rely on for
survival. Numerous studies dispute that claim including fact sheets from NOAA
Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for the recovery and livelihood of
salmon.
Operators of hydroelectric facilities spend billions of
dollars on programs to allow dams to coexist with the environment. Those
programs have made a real difference, and dams and salmon can and do coexist.
NOAA Fisheries reports show strong numbers of salmon making it downriver to
the ocean and increasing numbers making it back upriver to spawn. To remove those
dams would be a shortsighted error, driven by emotion rather than the facts.
Studies carried out by several groups including NOAA and the
Environmental Protection Agency have shown that predation, ocean conditions,
pollution and other factors have greater, far-reaching effects on salmon over
their lifespan than the relatively brief period they spend around hydroelectric
dams.
Many of the resolutions also highlight the irony that comes
from the State Legislature passing a bill calling for a 100% emissions-free
power system by 2045 called the Clean Energy Transformation Act, or CETA, while
at the same time, environmental groups are seeking to dismantle parts of the infrastructure that make that clean, carbon‐free energy possible.
“Washington is leading the way in clean energy because of
hydropower and yet there are those who would seek to cut the knees out of that
system,” said Skolrood, Grays Harbor PUD Commissioner. We have made huge
strides toward a 100% clean energy industry. Why in the world would we want to
start moving backwards?”
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