Avista says its just-filed 2021 integrated resource plan will meet customer needs through 2025 using owned and contracted generation, together with conservation and market purchases, but foresees the use of natural gas-fired peakers in the longer term.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a 45-member wholesale cooperative based in Colorado and serving electric distribution co-ops in four states, says 100 percent of its member load will be served by entities involved in either an energy imbalance market or a regional transmiss…

Under a memorandum of understanding signed April 1, 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.

Rapid construction of renewable resources in the Northwest and beyond could push down average power bills in the region later this decade, according to preliminary modeling for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's 2021 Power Plan.

Fields of solar panels and battery storage units will dominate California's energy scene through 2045, while firm zero-carbon energy resources, such as hydropower, geothermal and nuclear, will see little to no growth, according to a major report issued this week by the state's energy agencies.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is delaying by almost three weeks a decision to evaluate proposals to use Lake Roosevelt for pumped storage, citing the "complexity and location of the project" as the reasons.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says there was no choice in his government's decision to recommit to completing the half-finished Site C hydroelectric project on the Peace River in northeastern B.C., saying it's beyond the point of no return.

Washington and Oregon regulators have extended the moratorium on disconnections for electric and natural gas customers of investor-owned utilities experiencing financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intel has joined Portland General Electric's voluntary renewable energy buying program, enabling the development of a 138 MW solar facility, the utility announced Feb. 11.

Communication, collaboration and candor are critical to keeping grids balanced and lights on across the West in coming years, and meeting the challenges this presents will be easier if the West is working together.

Regional collaboration and coordination will be key if California and the rest of the West are to maintain a reliable electricity grid in the face of many changes swirling in the region, the head of California's grid operator said.

Coordinated planning among different types of load-serving entities with an array of available resources will be key to meeting California's reliability and decarbonization goals, speakers said during a Jan. 29 panel discussion.

Delivering reliable electricity in California this summer will require "deliberate and ongoing collaboration" among the state's energy regulatory bodies, particularly as more battery storage is installed in the Golden State, an advisor with the California ISO said.

Energy efficiency could soon lose its long-held top spot as the Northwest's cheapest resource as natural gas, wind and solar generation are expected to cost less than energy conservation by the 2030s.

Puget Sound Energy announced Jan. 21 a carbon reduction plan setting an aspirational goal of being a "Beyond Net Zero Carbon Company by 2045" that includes having net-zero carbon emissions for electric operations and supply by 2030 and being 100 percent carbon-free by 2045.

PNGC Power is calling for the region to begin working to establish a Northwest regional transmission organization/independent system operator.

The first of TransAlta's two 670 MW coal-fired plants in Centralia permanently shut down on Dec. 31, per a 2011 agreement with Washington as part of ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

"Urgency" is the word of the day as the California ISO rushes to put in place a series of market rules and procedural changes before the searing heat of another California summer drives up power demand.

New sensor technology and predictive models employing machine-learning methods under development by Chelan County PUD already are showing how they can reduce forced outages and unnecessary maintenance for the utility's hydropower fleet. One tool already is in beta testing, while others are i…

A wave of coal retirements means the Northwest faces a 15 percent chance emergency action will be required to keep the lights on at least once in 2025, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's preliminary regional resource adequacy assessment.

Portland General Electric on Nov. 18 announced an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goal that commits it to acquiring only noncarbon emitting energy resources over the next 20 years.

For the first time, LEDs became the majority product in the Northwest nonresidential lighting sector in 2019, when they accounted for 52 percent of unit sales, according to an annual survey published in September and conducted by BPA and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

Installing carbon-capture technology at Montana's Colstrip coal-fired power plant would cost about $1.3 billion upfront, plus about $100 million in annual upkeep and operating expenses, according to a recently acquired 2018 study commissioned by U.S. DOE's Office of Fossil Energy.

Arch Coal announced Oct. 22 it plans to slash its mining operations in the Powder River Basin and look to sell some of its assets, dealing another potential economic blow to Wyoming coal country.

Washington regulators want Puget Sound Energy to come back in the spring with a new all-resource generation request for proposals aimed at moving the utility toward complying with the state's clean energy mandates.

At 11:56 a.m. on Oct. 15, the coal-fired Boardman Generating Station generated its last megawatt, and was taken permanently off line by Portland General Electric.

Environmentalists and the hydropower 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 University.

Energy Northwest has been tapped to help develop next-generation nuclear power plants based on two different technologies.