This past weekend, the Snohomish County Public Utility District opened the first new hydroelectric project in Washington state in nearly 20 years. The Youngs Creek facility, south of Sultan, has a generating capacity of 7.5 megawatts--enough to power about 2,000
The efficiency of electricity use in the Pacific Northwest improved by 254 average megawatts in 2010, the equivalent power use of 153,900 homes, the Council and its partner, the Regional Technical Forum (RTF), reported today.
The Council's annual report on energy efficiency savings will be presented at next week's meeting, and the numbers are very encouraging.In 2010, the region acquired 254 average megawatts of efficiency savings, the largest total ever achieved in the past three
Historically, the Columbia River hydrosystem has enabled operators to adjust energy up or down to keep load and generation in balance. But with more wind generation coming on line, which can fluctuate quickly, planners are looking at different options to
Since the Council identified energy efficiency in its regional energy plan as the key resource to meet most of our future load growth, where will this efficiency come from?We heard about some promising areas at the Council's August meeting from
The Council's Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program depends on local watershed plans--subbasin plans--to inform its recommendations about what projects to fund. These plans connect all the various fish and wildlife actions already underway, identify problems that need attention, and
Donald "Bud" Hover of Winthrop, Washington, is an Okanogan County commissioner and hay farmer who also chairs the Washington state Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Here's a preview of our interview with him for the summer Council Quarterly where he describes
[reformatted from NW Energy Coalition July 18, 2011 emailed press release]
The Council unanimously elected Joan Dukes, an Oregon member of the Council, vice chair this week for the remainder of 2011. Dukes replaces Dick Wallace, a Washington member, in the position. Wallace resigned from the Council in June.
The Council is pleased that new federal energy-efficiency standards for air conditioners and furnaces, issued in June, account for regional differences in energy use. It’s the first time standards for those appliances have taken a regional approach since they first
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