PacifiCorp and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation formally notified FERC they will not accept co-licensee status for the lower Klamath River dams in a new joint application, seeking instead to transfer the license to KRRC and the states of California and Oregon [P-14803].

The Oregon PUC approved NW Natural's request to delay filing its 2021 integrated resource plan by up to 16 months, agreeing it was better to wait until the state's carbon-related policies are better defined.

Seattle-based OneEnergy plans to build the 80 MW Goose Prairie solar facility east of Moxee, Wash., in Yakima County, according to the application it filed with Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council on Jan. 19.

The Montana PSC at year's end reversed several key parts of a QF contract ruling from earlier in 2020. In a 4-1 vote Dec. 28, commissioners largely sided with solar energy developer Clenera's reconsideration motion, with outgoing Commissioner Roger Koopman dissenting.

Ten scientists—some well known for their work in Columbia Basin salmon recovery—published an open letter to the governors of four Northwest states saying Snake River salmon and steelhead are "highly likely to become extinct" if the four lower Snake River dams are not removed.

Roger Kline, general manager at Northern Wasco County PUD, was elected chair of the Public Power Council by the group's executive committee on Jan. 7.

Despite population declines over the past five years, the overall status of the 13 runs of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act has "probably not changed in most cases," a NOAA Fisheries scientist told the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Jan. 13.

Washington state must complete plans to control polluted runoff from septic systems, agriculture, logging and other nonpoint sources after a federal judge signed off on a legal settlement over the issue Jan. 8.

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.

Puget Sound-area journalist and Clearing Up columnist Bill Virgin died Dec. 15, at age 64.

On Jan. 13, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council reelected Richard Devlin, an Oregon member, as chairman, and Bo Downen, a Montana member, as vice chairman for 2021. Guy Norman, a Washington member, stepped down as chairman of the Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee, but remains on…

NOAA's Northwest River Forecast Center is predicting a lower-than-normal water supply in the Columbia River at The Dalles from April through September, largely due to below-normal precipitation in the Snake River, the Columbia's biggest tributary.

Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation filed responses Dec. 16 to the Deschutes River Alliance's request in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling which found no water quality certification violations at the Pelto…

In separate filings, the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation, the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, and the Nez Perce Tribe asked FERC to complete a supplemental EIS for relicensing Idaho Power's Hells Canyon Complex [P-1971].

The Washington Legislature starts its regular 105-day session on Jan. 11 with 18 energy and climate pre-filed bills ready for consideration.

Energy Northwest CEO Brad Sawatzke will retire at the end of June, the agency announced Jan. 7. Sawatzke, 62 in February, has worked in the nuclear industry for four decades, the last 10 years with ENW. He was hired in December 2010 as VP for nuclear generation and as chief nuclear officer, …

FERC issued a notice Dec. 16 soliciting comments, motions to intervene and protests regarding an amended license surrender application for four lower Klamath River dams, sought by PacifiCorp and Klamath River Renewal Corporation.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that a California company has developed a turbine for small hydropower projects enabling juvenile fish to pass through with 100 percent survival, according to preliminary results of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory tests.

The Oregon PUC on Dec. 10 adopted three all-party settlements in Avista's natural gas rate case, reducing a proposed $6.8 million, 6.8 percent increase of its annual revenues to $4.4 million, 4.4 percent increase on a rate base of $305 million [UG 389].

NW Natural on Dec. 18 filed a request with the Washington UTC to increase its annual revenue over two years, with a $6.3 million, 8 percent increase in the first year, and a $3.2 million, 3.7 percent increase in the second.

Grant County PUD commissioners unanimously approved a three-year hydropower slice contract with Shell Energy North America at their Dec. 8 meeting.

Updates to Oregon's residential building codes in 2017 make homes more comfortable and energy efficient, according to a study released Dec. 8 by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Washington State Department of Commerce doled out $9.8 million in grants to 14 projects building electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the agency announced Dec. 17.

Oregon is not on pace to hit its energy efficiency and clean energy targets, according to the state's latest biennial energy report.

Ann Rendahl has been reappointed by Gov. Jay Inslee to a second six-year term as a commissioner of the Washington UTC, through 2026, the agency announced Dec. 22. She serves on the three-member panel with Chair David Danner and Commissioner Jay Balasbas. Her reappointment is subject to confi…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported a second oil spill in the Columbia River this month, this time at John Day Dam from a pinhole leak in a turbine guide bearing chiller, which spilled an estimated 63 gallons of oil.

Weather forecasters say a moderate La Niña is still likely to stick around through this winter, but it hasn't produced the colder and wetter conditions that usually come with cooler sea surface temperatures at the equator. At least, not yet.

Scientists have long known coho salmon are especially sensitive to stormwater runoff. Some years, many die prematurely when they return to urban rivers to spawn.

The Independent Scientific Advisory Board is preparing to take on two topics that have raised significant uncertainty in Columbia Basin salmon recovery—smolt-to-adult returns and what impacts them, and nonnative American shad, millions of which return to the Columbia Basin yearly.

Jennifer Anders, a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council representing Montana, will retire in January after eight years of service. She was appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock in 2013.

Kara Fornstrom, chairwoman of the Wyoming PSC, will leave her post Jan. 15 to join the Southwest Power Pool, effective Jan. 19, the regional transmission organization announced Dec. 17. In her new role, she will lead SPP's state regulatory policy efforts and support it's work on regional tra…

The first phase of the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility, located in Morrow County, Ore., started commercial operations on Dec. 7 when Portland General Electric began receiving power from the 300 MW wind farm associated with the project, the utility and NextEra Energy Resource announced.

Surplus hatchery summer Chinook salmon released this year by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation have spawned in an upper Columbia River tributary, leaving salmon redds in an upper Columbia tributary for the first time in more than eight decades.

A regulatory filing mistake has led Puget Sound Energy to overcharge most of its customers since Oct. 15, an error expected to total $4.7 million by year's end.

Federal defendants say a remedy proposed by environmental groups for the Willamette Valley Project (WVP) is "draconian," and fails to ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can legally implement it, or that it would not harm upper Willamette River Chinook and steelhead, listed under th…

After meeting for the past 18 months, the Idaho Governor's Salmon Workgroup will present its recommendations to Gov. Brad Little during a virtual meeting from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 15—the group's final meeting.

David Ward, Grays Harbor PUD general manager, plans to retire in 2021 after spending more than 35 years working in public power. In the PUD's December newsletter, Ward thanked customers for the "privilege of serving" at the utility's helm, a position he's held since 2013. He highlighted some…

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Dec. 3 proposed city code revisions that would eliminate natural gas heating systems from new commercial and apartment buildings, while calling for improving energy efficiency and encouraging solar-energy arrays.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has discovered a record 25 vessels carrying invasive aquatic mussels into the state as a result of inspecting more than 32,000 watercraft at two highway check stations so far this year.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $93,409 penalty to solar developer DepCom Power for allegedly polluting wetlands and violating conditions of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit while developing a solar project near Estacada.

In a Dec. 1 ruling, the Idaho PUC opened the door to changing rates for large Idaho Power customers using solar generation to offset business costs.

It could be months before utility workers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho or Montana can receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The waiting period depends on vaccine allocation plans being hammered out by public health officials in the four states.

A broken pipe at The Dalles Dam spilled up to 200 gallons of oil into the Columbia River on Dec. 3, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported. The pipe, called a thrust hub cooling water pipe, is part of a fish unit turbine designed to attract migrating fish to the ladder.

Four years after initiating an effort to restore Pacific lamprey in the upper Columbia River, biologists with Colville Tribes Fish and Wildlife say their work is paying off.

A "comprehensive reform" of resource adequacy practices, dealing with increased generation variability and integrating new technologies are the main goals outlined in the California ISO's three-year roadmap, the grid operator said.

The Washington UTC staff has recommended a rate cut for Cascade Natural Gas customers in the state, rather than the increase the utility requested [UG-200568].

The CleanTech Alliance honored three recipients of its 2020 Energy Leadership Achievement awards during its co-presented Energy Leadership Summit on Nov. 12.

Puget Sound Energy booked $33 million in net income during the third quarter of 2020, compared to a loss of $15.3 million during the same period in 2019.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold an online public hearing Dec. 1 to consider a proposed rule to ban use of remote-controlled devices and drones while fishing. Current state law does not bar such use, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is being asked whether it's legal to …