News

The likelihood of future power shortages in the Pacific Northwest has declined over the last year, an analysis by the Council shows.

The efficiency of electricity use in the Northwest is improving – we are doing more with our power and using less to do it. And as an added bonus, the investments that utilities are making in energy efficiency are not

A revision of the largest regional fish and wildlife recovery program in the nation includes actions to improve ecosystem function, protect wild salmon and steelhead, eradicate invasive species, and restore fish runs to areas where fish passage has been blocked

The conference, scheduled October 21-23 in Spokane, includes themes of:

At its April meeting, the Council began deliberations on the Draft 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program in preparation for releasing it for 60 days of public comment by the end of the month or in early May.

Elliot Mainzer, Bonneville Power Administration's newly sworn in administrator, made his first appearance at a Council meeting in March. Mainzer described his strategic prioriities for the agency, including meeting the energy efficiency targets in the Council's Sixth Power Plan.

On Friday, Council members voted unanimously to select Navigant Consulting to redevelop a key power planning tool, called the regional portfolio model, that it will use to develop its Seventh Power Plan.

If the best offense is a good defense, the Northwest is well on its way toward being ready in the event invasive freshwater mussels take hold in the Columbia River Basin, as they have in the Colorado River and some

Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs should range from average to record-breaking in 2014 depending on the species, fish managers from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho reported to the Council in March. However, the drawdown of the reservoir behind the damaged