March 2001 issue

 NWCouncil.org NeWs    March 2001 index

Council recommendations for easing the West Coast power crisis

1. Continue emergency hydropower operations. At the request of the Bonneville Power Administration, Columbia Basin federal dams have been drafted deeper than limits in the Biological Opinion on Hydropower Operations in order to boost power generation. Continuing these emergency operations, and reducing water spill at dams, would yield additional energy this summer and help reservoirs refill this fall.

2. Continue to bring new thermal plants online. A total of 800 new megawatts of thermal generation, mostly natural gas-fired, will come online by this summer in the Northwest; 700 more is expected by next winter, and an additional 1,000 by winter 2003. This is about 70 percent of the 3,000 megawatts of power and conservation needed to reach normal system reliability standards by winter 2003.

3. Continue to develop renewable resources. Planned hydropower upgrades in the Northwest will yield 80 new megawatts of capacity by 2003; two new Northwest wind power developments will yield 325 megawatts of generating capacity.

4. Add temporary new thermal generation. 500 megawatts of temporary generation, typically clusters of generators fired by natural gas or diesel, will come online this year in the Northwest. These should be encouraged on an emergency basis but should not be made permanent without the normal permits.

5. Expand energy conservation efforts. The Council recommends the following actions: 1) install compact fluorescent bulbs; 2) improve commercial lighting efficiency; 3) "tune up" commercial building HVAC systems; 4) replace industrial electric motors with more efficient motors; 5) retire second refrigerators in homes; 6) replace older clothes washers.

6. Pursue voluntary industrial/commercial demand reduction. Utilities should pursue the following voluntary agreements with industrial and commercial customers, where feasible: 1) contracts that allow power supply interruptions, 2) contracts to reduce demand for power; 3) short-term power buybacks.

7. Explore power pricing changes to reflect market prices and risk. Utilities and regulatory agencies should explore power pricing that reflects the value of power in response to supply and demand. Higher prices during times of high demand, and vice versa, could reduce consumption and prompt investments in conservation.

8. Explore pros and cons of re-regulating wholesale power prices. On one hand, proponents of federal regulation of power prices believe price controls would reduce the impact of high prices on the economy and ratepayers while still encouraging investment in new power plants and conservation. On the other hand, critics believe price controls would be ineffective in the competitive electricity market, difficult to implement consistently and circumvented by some market participants.

9. Continue to inform the public. The public needs to understand the problem is real and that efforts at home will help ease the crisis.