Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems has opted to scale back its planned Carbon Free Power Project, a first-of-its-kind small modular reactor power plant to be located on the campus of Idaho National Laboratory.
Scientists who study Pacific salmon abundance and the influence of pink salmon runs on the ocean's food web say 2020's record-low catch and abundance of the five major salmon species in the North Pacific Ocean could signal the beginning of a new reality caused by a warming ocean, which gener…
Historic high temperatures hammered the Northwest in June's final days, smashing some long-standing records, straining the grid, and causing deaths in a region accustomed to moderate summer temperatures and little need for air conditioning.
Numerous locations in the Northwest broke all-time records for high temperatures between June 26 and June 30, causing climatologists to warn of worsening drought and a shrinking water supply from added demands.
Federal energy regulators on June 17 approved transferring the license of the 163-MW Lower Klamath River Hydroelectric Project from PacifiCorp to the Klamath River Renewal Corp. and the states of Oregon and California, advancing a plan to decommission the four dams.
Two separate lawsuits have exposed the unraveling of the Colstrip Power Plant ownership group, and the inevitable collision between the decarbonization policies of Pacific Northwest states and the more coal-friendly ethos of Montana.
Forty-two percent of Snake River basin spring-summer Chinook populations have reached quasi-extinction thresholds, according to a study by Nez Perce Tribe scientists, who say if adult returns continue to decline at 19 percent per year, 77 percent of the populations will reach the threshold by 2025.
As an April 14 meeting to discuss settlement proposals in the Bonneville Power Administration’s rate case ground on for nearly three hours, it became clear time was pressing on the effort.
The Bonneville Power Administration will conduct a public meeting April 14 to discuss a wide-ranging call by customers to engage in a settlement of its BP-22 power and transmission rate case.
Energy Northwest and X-energy will support the development of an 80-MW advanced nuclear reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington, with the aim of bringing it on line by 2027, under a memorandum of understanding signed April 1.
A series of winter storms over Valentine's Day weekend caused "catastrophic damage" to Portland General Electric's system and left hundreds of thousands of Oregonians without power for several days.
Many customers of the Bonneville Power Administration are concerned about the agency's proposed use of revenue financing to fund projects, saying power rates could have been 4.5 percent lower had that approach not been used.
Northwest rivers in 2019 were about as low as they've been in any year since 2001, and while low-water years create problems, they paradoxically reveal a clear trend that carbon dioxide emissions in the region are decreasing, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
A group of homeowners in Northern California and southern Oregon have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Slater Fire was the result of PacifiCorp failing to maintain its transmission and distribution lines and to de-energize its system as conditions worsened.
John Hairston will become the 16th administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration and the first person of color to lead the agency in its 84-year history, the U.S. Department of Energy said Jan. 7.
top story
In a harshly worded statement issued Dec. 22, Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell criticized the U.S. Department of Energy's lack of consultation with them on candidates to fill the administrator vacancy at the Bonneville Power Administration, and described one of the candidates…
PacifiCorp would transfer the operating licenses of four hydroelectric projects on the lower Klamath River to the states of Oregon and California, along with the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, but would continue to pay nearly half the costs of removing the dams, according to a deal annou…
Environmental groups and the hydroelectric power industry will work together to address the impacts of climate change by promoting the renewable-energy and storage benefits of hydropower and the environmental and economic benefits of healthy rivers, according to a deal brokered by Stanford U…
Peak power demand in the Pacific Northwest is shifting to a pattern in which regional load will no longer peak in the winter months, according to experts analyzing the data.
Wildfires continued to rage in Washington and Oregon on Sept. 11, as utilities hustled to restore power to areas that had been shut off, where and when it was safe.
Portland General Electric no longer has net market exposure from energy trades, and its total third-quarter losses from energy trading will be $128 million, the Oregon utility said in a Sept. 2 statement.
top story
California's recent rolling blackouts and power market price spikes have caused financial damage to at least one Northwest utility and raised concerns among some analysts about the integrity of the California Independent System Operator's wholesale market.
PacifiCorp on July 7 released a request for proposals seeking 4.3 GW of renewable energy and battery storage, the largest RFP in the utility's history and one of the largest calls for renewables in the industry.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on April 1 accepted a series of open-access transmission tariff modifications from seven NorthernGrid members, officially allowing NorthernGrid to be the Northwest's transmission planning organization.
More than two dozen Pacific coast businesses came out Jan. 29 in support of a regional cap-and-trade program that would link Washington, Oregon and California in a West Coast market.
The Pacific Northwest could be facing a 3,000-MW capacity deficit by 2030, according to an updated study by the San Francisco-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Economics.
Three small Northwest utilities were among more than a dozen hit by recent cyberattacks targeting small electric utilities. While none of the attacks appear to have succeeded, they highlight two of the weakest links in the industry's cybersecurity defenses: small, resource-strapped electric …
PacifiCorp will lean on the wholesale power market to meet the bulk of its summer and winter peaking capacity needs over the next decade, according to the utility's 2019 integrated resource plan filed with state regulators Oct. 18.
PacifiCorp would close 16 of its 24 coal units, add nearly 7,000 MW of new renewable energy and build 400 miles of transmission line over the next decade to accelerate decarbonization of its system, according to its draft 2019 integrated resource plan.
The Bonneville Power Administration moved a step closer to joining the Western Energy Imbalance Market on Sept. 26, by signing an implementation agreement with the California Independent System Operator that will allow BPA to further consider participating in the market.
top story
The Bonneville Power Administration appears to be on the verge of taking the next step in potentially joining the Western Energy Imbalance Market operated by the California Independent System Operator.
PacifiCorp continues to see dramatic savings from early retirement of some of its coal fleet and switching to renewables and natural gas in modeling for its 2019 integrated resource plan.
The West’s two power-marketing administrations are considering their options for reliability coordination services.
Oregon Public Utility Commission staff has recommended denying Hydro One’s application to acquire Avista Corp.
We want to hear from you on energy issues and to share your thoughts with our readership. Read more