BPA plan would share costs of wind-power shutdown

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 and wind-power producers.

During these oversupply periods, when wind-power producers may be asked to shut down, the plan would compensate them for lost revenue, according to Doug Johnson, a BPA spokesman. Read more

This year, the BPA forecast a 50 percent chance there will be an oversupply of power. If that happens, the cost of the plan could be about $10 million, or up to $50 million if extreme conditions occur during the peak spring runoff period.

The BPA operates regional transmission lines used by wind-power producers, and also sells hydroelectric power from federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.