Providing balanced information for using water as a renewable energy resource in the Northwest
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 Scott Learn The Oregonian PARKDALE — As salmon streams go, Hood River faces some unique challenges: glacial gullywashers from Mount Hood, heavy irrigation withdrawals for Oregon’s top fruit orchards and a once hardy population of spring chinook…
By Hal Bernton Seattle Times The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) this week released a new proposal to share the “oversupply costs” that pile up when there is not enough demand for all the electricity produced by hydroelectric dams…
By Rich Landers Spokesman Review Two major Bonneville Power Administration projects are tending to the welfare of Kootenai River fisheries, which have been starved for more than attention since Libby Dam went online in 1972. The success of the…
By Rocky Barker Idaho Statesman Few projects carried the hope and hubris of the New Deal more than the Bonneville Power Act. Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the law creating the Bonneville Power Administration 75 years ago tomorrow. His…
By Becky Kramer Spokesman Review One of the conundrums of wind energy is that the wind doesn’t blow constantly. In the Northwest, most wind farms operate at about 30 percent capacity, which means backup electrical generation is needed….
By Associated Press The Wenatchee World PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal regulators on Wednesday ruled in favor of Northwest wind power generators who objected to being ordered to shut down at times this spring when the Columbia River…
By Becky Kramer Spokesman Review Lake Pend Oreille’s water levels will fluctuate by as much as 5 feet this winter, allowing federal agencies more flexibility in managing electricity generation throughout the Columbia River hydropower system. The Bonneville Power…
By Tim Fought, Associated Press The Columbian PORTLAND — A big spring rise in the Columbia River basin has finally washed out to sea, meaning that turbines in the region’s wind farms are back at full output. While…
By Scott Learn The Oregonian Federal Judge James A. Redden’s potential swan song hearing on the Northwest’s highest-profile salmon case Monday was short but not particularly sweet. Redden, 82, has presided over the U.S. District Court case since…