Providing balanced information for using water as a renewable energy resource in the Northwest
By: Jeff Mapes The Oregonian Could a small electrical cooperative in eastern Oregon up-end the state’s renewable energy law? That’s the question being asked as the Umatilla Electric Cooperative essentially tells legislators: Fix the renewable energy standards to…
Associated Press The Oregonian The United States has staked out its position for potential negotiations with Canada over a treaty governing hydropower and flood control on the Columbia River and seeks to keep more of the energy produced…
By: Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review Last weekend’s doozy of a storm followed a classic Northwest weather script. Winds gusting to 40 mph blew moisture-rich air from the ocean into the Cascades and Northern Rockies, dumping snow on the mountains…
HydroWorld.com The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will add a third generating unit to the 10-MW Black Canyon Diversion Dam, potentially increasing the hydropower plant’s output capacity to 22.5 MW. Reclamation said the additional generating unit will “take…
By Rich Landers Spokesman Review Kokanee no longer pack enough influence to keep the U.S. Corps of Engineers from fluctuating water levels at Lake Pend Oreille during winter. Since 1996, the lake level behind Albeni Falls Dam has generally…
By Becky Kramer Spokesman Review Avista Corp. is moving into the Alaska market through the planned purchase of an electric utility serving the Juneau area. In a deal announced Monday, Avista will acquire Alaska Electric Light and Power’s parent…
By Christine Pratt Wenatchee World WENATCHEE — The Chelan County PUD’s top-priority repair has the powerhouse floor of Rocky Reach Dam looking something like a highly specialized yard sale. Turbine blades, bronze bushings the size of ottomans, boxes filled…
By Jody Lawrence-Turner Spokesman Review Glenn Phillips is a water-power cowboy. Faded, discolored pictures depict the Northport, Wash., man’s tale of building one of the first privately owned and operated miniature hydroelectric power plants. They show him digging in a…
By Rich Landers Spokesman Review FISHERIES — The eggs of endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon in Idaho and Montana are less likely to hatch in the river because of flow changes caused by Libby Dam and other human actions,…