council logo
Contact
About

Integrating energy and the environment in the Columbia River Basin

About the Council
Mission and Strategy Members and Staff Bylaws Policies Careers / RFPs
News

See what the Council is up to.

Read the Latest News
Read All News Press Resources Newsletters International Columbia River

Explore News By Topic

Fish and Wildlife Planning Salmon and Steelhead Wildlife Energy Planning Energy Efficiency Demand Response
Fish and Wildlife

The Council works to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. Its Fish & Wildlife Program guides project funding by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fish and Wildlife Overview

The Fish and Wildlife Program

2025-26 Amendment Process 2014/2020 Program Program Tracker: Resources, Tools, Maps Project Reviews and Recommendations Costs Reports

Independent Review Groups

  • Independent Economic Analysis Board (IEAB)
  • Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB)
  • Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP)

Forums and Workgroups

  • Asset Management Subcommittee
  • Ocean and Plume Science and Management Forum
  • Regional Coordination
  • Science and Policy Exchange
  • Toxics Workgroup
  • Columbia Basin Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Workgroup
  • Informal Hatchery Workgroup
  • Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup

Topics

Adaptive Management Anadromous Fish Mitigation Blocked Areas Hatcheries & Artificial Production Invasive and Non-Native Species Lamprey Predation: Sea lions, pike, birds Protected Areas Research Plan Resident Fish Program Tracker: Resources, Tools, Maps Sockeye Sturgeon
Power Planning

The Council develops a plan, updated every five years, to assure the Pacific Northwest of an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply.

Power Planning Overview

The Northwest Power Plan

9th Northwest Power Plan The 2021 Northwest Power Plan 2021 Plan Supporting Materials 2021 Plan Mid-term Assessment Planning Process and Past Power Plans

Technical tools and models

Advisory Committees

Climate and Weather Conservation Resources Demand Forecast Demand Response Fuels Generating Resources Resource Adequacy System Analysis Regional Technical Forum (RTF) RTF Policy

Topics

  • Energy Efficiency
  • Demand Response
  • Power Supply
  • Resource Adequacy
  • Energy Storage
  • Hydropower
  • Transmission

ARCHIVES

Meetings
See next Council Meeting June 10 - 11, 2025 in Missoula › See all meetings ›

Recent and Upcoming Meetings

Swipe left or right
NOV 2024
WED
06
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
System Analysis Advisory Committee
NOV 2024
THU
07
10:00 am—12:00 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
NOV 2024
WED THU
13 - 14
Council Meeting
NOV 2024
TUE WED
19 - 20
RTF Meeting
NOV 2024
THU
21
1:00 pm—2:00 pm
Resource Cost Framework in Power Plan Webinar
NOV 2024
FRI
22
9:30 am—11:30 am
Fuels Advisory Committee
DEC 2024
MON
02
11:00 am—12:00 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
DEC 2024
WED
04
10:00 am—12:00 pm
Climate and Weather Advisory Committee
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q4
DEC 2024
TUE WED
10 - 11
Council Meeting
DEC 2024
TUE
17
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JAN 2025
WED
08
9:30 am—3:30 pm
Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
JAN 2025
MON
13
10:00 am—12:00 pm
Demand Forecasting Advisory Committee
JAN 2025
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
JAN 2025
WED
22
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
RTF New Member Orientation
JAN 2025
THU
23
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JAN 2025
MON
27
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
Fuels Advisory Committee
JAN 2025
FRI
31
9:30 am—3:30 pm
Generating Resources Advisory Committee
FEB 2025
WED
05
9:00 am—12:00 pm
System Analysis Advisory Committee
FEB 2025
TUE WED
11 - 12
Council Meeting
FEB 2025
WED
19
2:00 pm—4:00 pm
Demand Forecast Advisory Committee
FEB 2025
THU
20
9:00 am—12:15 pm
RTF Meeting
1:30 pm—4:30 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
FEB 2025
FRI
21
9:30 am—12:30 pm
Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
FEB 2025
THU
27
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
Resource Adequacy and System Analysis Advisory Committees Combined Meeting
MAR 2025
FRI
07
9:00 am—12:00 pm
Approach to Modeling Operational Risks from Wildfires Webinar
MAR 2025
MON WED
10 - 12
Council Meeting
MAR 2025
TUE
18
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
MAR 2025
THU
20
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
MAR 2025
WED
26
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
Generating Resources Advisory Committee
MAR 2025
THU
27
9:00 am—11:00 am
Resource Adequacy Advisory Committee - Steering Committee
12:30 pm—1:30 pm
Special Council Meeting
APR 2025
THU
03
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
Climate and Weather Advisory Committee
APR 2025
TUE WED
08 - 09
Council Meeting
APR 2025
THU
10
9:00 am—11:00 am
Fuels Advisory Committee Meeting
APR 2025
TUE
15
9:00 am—11:30 am
RTF Meeting
APR 2025
WED
16
1:30 pm—4:00 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
APR 2025
MON
21
1:00 pm—5:00 pm
Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
APR 2025
THU
24
9:00 am—10:00 am
Public Affairs Committee
APR 2025
TUE
29
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
Council Meeting
MAY 2025
TUE WED
13 - 14
Council Meeting
MAY 2025
FRI
16
2:00 pm—4:00 pm
Demand Forecast Advisory Committee
MAY 2025
THU
22
9:00 am—2:30 pm
RTF Meeting
MAY 2025
THU
29
9:00 am—12:00 pm
Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
MAY 2025
FRI
30
1:30 pm—3:00 pm
Demand Response Advisory Committee
JUN 2025
TUE WED
10 - 11
Council Meeting
JUN 2025
TUE WED
17 - 18
RTF Meeting
JUL 2025
TUE WED
15 - 16
Council Meeting
JUL 2025
TUE
22
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
AUG 2025
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
AUG 2025
TUE WED
19 - 20
RTF Meeting
SEP 2025
TUE WED
09 - 10
Council Meeting
SEP 2025
TUE
16
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
OCT 2025
WED THU
15 - 16
Council Meeting
OCT 2025
TUE
21
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2025
THU
13
9:00 am—1:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2025
TUE WED
18 - 19
Council Meeting
DEC 2025
TUE
09
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
DEC 2025
TUE WED
16 - 17
Council Meeting
View Council Meetings View All Meetings
Reports and Documents

Browse reports and documents relevant to the Council's work on fish and wildlife and energy planning, as well as administrative reports.

Browse Reports

REPORTS BY TOPIC

Power Plan Fish and Wildlife Program Subbasin Plans Financial Reports Independent Scientific Advisory Board Independent Scientific Review Panel Independent Economic Analysis Board

COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORY PROJECT

Review of Draft Sixth Power Plan Chapter 11, Capacity and Flexibility Task 152

Council Document Number: 
IEAB 2009-3
Published date: 
Nov. 2, 2009
Document state: 
Published

The IEAB has reviewed Chapter 11 of the Draft 6th Power Plan. This chapter provides an excellent discussion of the relevant technical information about flexibility options for variable generation resources, especially wind generation. Chapter 11 says:

Historically, the cost of operating the power system to provide regulation and load following services received little attention. The effect of wind and other variable generation on the balancing authority’s control problem has raised awareness of the cost of providing these services. Improvements in operating procedures and business practices, described below, should help to hold down integration costs, but they will likely increase over time as more variable generation is added to the system.

This task and our review of this chapter are motivated by some concern in the region that the potential rate impacts of wind integration are being underestimated.

While Chapter 11 is an excellent coverage of the technical interrelationships which underlie the costs of integrating variable generation resources into the PNW system, it does not directly discuss these costs or rate impacts. Some information on wind integration costs is included elsewhere in the Power Plan, primarily in Appendix I and Appendix P.

Appendix I indicates that the modeling of costs and rates done for the 6th Power Plan did not actually estimate the costs of wind integration. Instead, the cost models used by Council staff relied on integration cost assumptions derived from integration cost studies by several western utilities (see appendix I, pages I-11 and I-12). Work by Council staff to better understand and model PNW wind integration costs is ongoing.

The IEAB suggests that the 6th Power Plan should include at least one paragraph but probably a section (not necessarily in Chapter 11) that discusses the quantitative cost and rate estimates from Appendices I and P, focusing on the costs of integrating variable generating resources, and a short summary of the estimated effect on power rates should be provided. Chapter 11 might reference a section on costs and rates that should appear somewhere in the main document, not just the appendices. It also might also be useful to discuss how power rates might change differently in different parts of the region.

At a minimum, the IEAB suggests providing a summary similar to the following:

Historically, the cost of operating the power system to provide regulation and load following services received little attention. The effect of wind and other variable generation on the balancing authority’s control problem has raised awareness of the cost of providing these services. Improvements in operating procedures and business practices, described below, should help to hold down integration costs, but they will likely increase over time as more variable generation is added to the system.

An analysis of rates has been conducted that includes assumptions about integration costs. The analysis, in Appendix P, estimates average future power rates under a variety of scenarios. The annual rate of increase of real power rates is expected to range anywhere from 0.3 to 1.6 percent annually. The assumptions for wind integration costs included in these rates are shown in Appendix I, pages I-11-13. The going forward power system costs also include the cost of conservation and generating resource options, and in some futures, construction and operation.

The short summary of rate impacts might be something like this:

Wind integration costs for 2010 were assumed to be $8.85/MWh, rising to $10.90/MWh in 2024. At 0.9 to 1.1 cents per KWh these wind integration costs would be significant, but not overwhelming, relative to total rates of X to Y cents per KWh.

The discussion of integration costs raises a separate issue about the appropriate accounting frame for these costs. The Council is interested in costs from at least three perspectives – the cost of power, the cost of the fish and wildlife program (FWP), and the cost of wind integration. Clearly, these three are interrelated. The FWP imposes restrictions on flow, spill and peaking at the dams, which makes wind integration more difficult and costly. The question becomes – are the integration costs properly viewed as costs of the power system, or should they be viewed as costs of the FWP, much as spill costs are now treated as costs of the FWP? If at least part of the integration costs were viewed as FWP costs, this might shift attention to possible changes in the FWP that would enhance hydropower system flexibility and reduce integration costs – much the same way as the draft Plan now focuses on changes in power system management as a way to reduce integration costs. It would be appropriate to at least mention these topics somewhere in Chapter 11.

The IEAB applauds the ongoing work by Council staff and others to understand the issues raised by wind integration and to estimate its costs and rate impacts. At this time the IEAB has neither the budget nor the experience of working with power cost modeling to independently estimate these costs and impacts. However, the IEAB is ready if it becomes appropriate to offer its economic expertise to this effort.

Topics: 
Fish and wildlife
Tags: 
IEAB

ISRP 2021-05 LibbyMFWPfollow-up1June.pdf

Sign up for our newsletter

  •    

Contact

  • Central Office
  • Idaho Office
  • Montana Office
  • Oregon Office
  • Washington Office
  • Council Members

Social Media

Facebook threads Instagram LinkedIn Vimeo Flickr

© NW Power & Conservation Council

Privacy policy Terms & Conditions Inclusion Statement