Solar development in Utah and Oregon may be poised for growth, based on early results of PacifiCorp's all-source request for proposals.

Washington state's Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded $18 million in grants to organizations, agencies, counties, cities and tribes seeking to help recover 17 species of endangered salmon, steelhead and bull trout throughout the state.

BPA has extended its northern pikeminnow reward program by 11 days and boosted the per-fish reward amounts for the rest of the 2020 season to encourage more participation.

Chelan County PUD will conduct its second test of juvenile fish survival at Rock Island Dam next spring, as required under its habitat conservation plan approved by FERC.

The Oregon Department of Energy on Sept. 22 released an interactive electric vehicle dashboard showing the total number and types of EVs that have been sold around the state.

John Hairston, interim administrator at BPA, is a finalist to be managing director and CEO of the Jacksonville Electric Authority in Jacksonville, Fla.

In a Sept. 17 ruling, FERC agreed with BPA that Avista cannot require it to buy additional point-to-point transmission service in order to transmit operating reserves within Avista's balancing area when the reserves are deployed from designated network resources outside of Avista's balancing area.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Sept. 11 granted Portland, Ore.-based NuScale Power standard design approval (SDA) for its small modular reactor.

The Washington Department of Ecology has been asked to issue a Section 401 water quality certification under the Clean Water Act for the proposed 1,200 MW Goldendale pumped-storage project.

Bonneville is close to shutting the book on a dispute dating back to 2005 over what was ultimately deemed to be money it owed to a natural gas power plant owner that had provided ancillary reactive power support services.

Wendy Gerlitz is joining Puget Sound Energy after 10 years at the NW Energy Coalition, including the past five years as policy director. She told Clearing Up she will focus on state and regulatory policy at PSE, including participating in rulemaking for Washington's Clean Energy Transformati…

As predicted, La Niña has arrived and is likely to stick around through the winter, according to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks intercepted its 27th vessel with invasive mussels on Aug. 30, when roadside inspectors at its Nashua inspection station found a zebra mussel attached to the hull of a kayak. The vacationers were on their way to Glacier National Park, a news release from the…

Snohomish County PUD is offering customers up to $500 to buy and install eligible Level 2 electric vehicle chargers in their homes, under its recently approved Connect & Drive plan.

Portland General Electric announced Sept. 2 that it no longer has net market exposure from energy trades and that its total third-quarter losses from energy trading will be $128 million, it said in a statement.

Energy Northwest is operating its 1,207 MW Columbia Generating Station under a "no touch" protocol limiting maintenance activity that would require reducing power or that poses a risk to sustaining 100 percent generation.

The Montana PSC has removed a hold it placed on NorthWestern Energy's application to buy part of Puget Sound Energy's share of Colstrip Unit 4.

A work group established by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to assess the impact of ocean fishing on endangered southern resident killer whales has completed recommendations and a range of management alternatives.

Three Native American tribes and two environmental groups are asking a federal judge in California to prevent the U.S. EPA from applying new rules that limit the authority of states and tribes to issue water quality certifications under the Clean Water Act.

A fast-moving wildfire threatening the power supply to Dworshak Dam prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop alternative plans to prevent water in the Lower Granite Dam fish trap from getting too warm in the event of a power outage. The alternative plans involved spilling extra c…

Okanogan PUD commissioners on Aug. 24 opted to not reinstate a 2 percent rate increase approved in March, citing financial impacts to customers due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Northwest Public Power Association is awarding Oregon Rep. Greg Walden the Homer T. Bone Award, recognizing Walden's "strong support over many years on a wide variety of issues important to consumer-owned electric utilities," said NWPPA Executive Director Scott Corwin in a statement. Und…

John Hairston has been named by the U.S. Department of Energy to serve as acting BPA administrator and CEO after Elliot Mainzer departs Sept. 1, Bonneville announced Aug. 28.

BPA announced Aug. 24 it has boosted energy-saving financial support for local businesses, utilities and consumers to help "reignite" the regional energy efficiency economy, which has flagged due to COVID-19 impacts impeding the ability of Bonneville's utility customers to administer energy …

Sea surface temperatures have dropped in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, making conditions ripe for weak La Nina conditions to develop this fall and winter, National Weather Service meteorologist Jeremy Wolf reported at an Aug. 24 drought webinar.

The final safety evaluation report for NuScale's 12-module, 600 MW small modular reactor has been issued, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Aug. 28.

Gregg Carrington on Aug. 25 was named chief operating officer of the Northwest Power Pool. As COO, Carrington will support regional program development, including the Power Pool's resource adequacy programs, and manage the organization's day-to-day operations, including its contingency reser…

Idaho Power on Aug. 21 filed rate change applications with the Idaho PUC that would increase its energy efficiency rider by $3.7 million and offset that with a $3.9 million decrease in revenue requirement related to its planned exit this fall from the Boardman coal-fired plant in Oregon.

Puget Sound Energy has signed a power purchase agreement for output from Avangrid Renewables' 200 MW Golden Hills Wind Farm in Sherman County, Ore., the companies announced Aug. 18.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says he's worried potential changes in the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement would disproportionately harm Utah electricity customers, and has asked PacifiCorp in an Aug. 17 letter to pause further negotiations.

U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez ruled Aug. 17 that after missing numerous deadlines to improve conditions for threatened fish, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to meet conditions of a 2008 BiOp for operating 13 dams in the Willamette Val…

The Montana PSC constantly switches methodologies in deciding QF contract disputes, resulting in "an inexplicable and illogical pendulum" in setting avoided costs, Consolidated Edison alleges in two lawsuits filed in Montana state court [ADV-2020-1292; DDV-2020-1367].

The Port of Clarkston returned to the Columbia Basin Technical Management Team on Aug. 19 to ask for a raised pool at Lower Granite Dam so barges could continue to ship wheat, and again, TMT denied the request.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council's second and longest-serving executive director received ample praise from Council members during his last meeting as director Aug. 12. Crow retired Aug. 14 after 25 years at the helm, and a total of 32 years serving the Council.

After more than two years of developing, refining and finalizing goals and objectives for its Fish and Wildlife Program, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council adopted Part I of its 2020 Addendum on Aug. 12.

Following a request from BPA to keep its fiscal year 2022 and 2023 budgets flat, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council reduced its 2022 budget by $100,000 and its forecasted 2023 budget by $150,000 at the Aug. 12 meeting.

Chicago-based developer Hecate Energy intends to build a 150 to 300 MW solar plant near Bonanza, Ore., in Klamath County, with up to 1,100 MW of battery storage.

The Independent Scientific Review Panel completed a report on 44 projects involving resident fish and sturgeon programs in the Columbia Basin, finding 30 of them meet review criteria, and 10 meet criteria with some conditions needing further action.

The Columbia River Technical Management Team rejected a request on Aug. 12 by the Port of Clarkston in eastern Washington to raise the minimum operating pool at Lower Granite Dam so grain barges can continue to operate through the peak of wheat shipping season.

Design issues that delayed a Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety review milestone of Portland-based NuScale's small modular reactor have been addressed, leaving one more safety review phase.

Snohomish County PUD is upgrading to advanced meters, after its commission voted 2-1 to approve the nearly $90 million, four-year project to install and build a network to support them at its Aug. 4 meeting. The new meters will be installed in 2023 and 2024

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman granted a joint motion on July 29 by federal defendants, conservation groups and a fishing association to stay court proceedings in Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v. National Marine Fisheries Service, et al. [19-487]. Under the order, the case is …

NOAA Fisheries announced plans on July 23 to spend nearly $13 million on habitat restoration projects throughout the country, $3.1 million of which will go to eight projects in Oregon and Washington, from 31 that received awards from the Community-Based Restoration Program.

NW Natural has reached an all-party settlement of the remaining issues in its Oregon general rate case, it announced July 31 [UG 388].

FERC on July 31 granted a two-year construction deadline extension to developers of the proposed $1 billion, 400 MW Gordon Butte pumped storage hydro project planned for Montana [P-13642].

Northwest RiverPartners filed a motion with the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board on Aug. 5 to intervene as an appellant, joining the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in challenging water temperature requirements imposed for operating eight dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Oregon State University will host an information session Aug. 13 on its planned solicitation of bids for five 12-mile-long subsea power and data cables to support the PacWave South wave-energy testing facility.

Mason County PUD No. 3 recently added a 12th substation to its system and expects to build another three or four during the current decade to keep pace with growing demand.