News

As little as thirty years ago, the only resources energy planners considered to meet future demand were coal and nuclear. People couldn't imagine any other options.Today, the Pacific Northwest uses other kinds of generation. The system is still hydro-based, with

The Council has recommended construction of a new hatchery to boost production of Snake River sockeye salmon, an endangered species, and continue a long-term effort to rebuild the population to naturally spawning, self-sustaining levels.

The growth in electricity demand from the big computer data centers that store your Facebook posts and help you search the Internet with Google or utilize Apple’s "cloud" storage is growing as anticipated in the Northwest, according to an analysis

Charlie Black is the new Director of Power Planning at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, Chair Joan Dukes announced today. Black has 30 years’ experience working with or for Northwest utilities in power resource planning, acquisition, risk management, and

We've reported on the threat of invasive quagga mussels in an earlier post, and it looks like that threat has never been greater. Forty-one barges are set to arrive in Seattle, Washington, and they appear to be infested with the

The Council is revising upward its estimate of how much power plug-in electric vehicles will use in the future, in light of anticipated consumer response to high gasoline prices and technological advances that allow plug-in electric vehicles to travel increasingly

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s panel of independent scientists recently completed a review of 71 projects to implement the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program over the next several years, finding that just 14 of them “meet

There's a common perception that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's decision to allow Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to kill California sea lions at Bonneville Dam addresses the fish predation problem there. But right now, most of the damage is

Washington, Oregon, and Idaho fish managers are optimistic about salmon and steelhead returns to the Columbia River Basin in 2012, with some runs predicted to return in numbers not seen in decades – particularly sockeye. State fish and wildlife agency

According to an analysis by the Council, the Pacific Northwest is likely to continue producing more electricity than it needs in the spring and early summer, a time when demand for power usually is low and the supply of hydropower