Hydroelectric power generation in California is expected to decrease 19 percent this year from the 2020 level as a result of intense drought conditions, the Energy Information Administration said July 7. Read More
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Portland General Electric has taken another bite out of its pending capacity deficit by signing a power purchase agreement with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS) for their share of the output from the 500 MW Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project on the Deschutes River. Read More
The 1,200 MW Goldendale pumped-storage project planned for along the Columbia River in Klickitat County will have to reapply for a key water quality certification after the State of Washington denied it "without prejudice" on June 22, saying it "has not received the necessary information to … Read More
FERC's July 15 meeting likely was the last one for outgoing Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, whose term expired June 30. While Chatterjee can serve until the end of the current congressional session or until the Senate confirms a replacement, he said July 8 on Twitter that the commission's July… Read More
Decreasing hydropower and teetering amounts of imports are adding to the reasons California's electricity supply could fall short of demand this summer. Read More
A fast-growing, massive wildfire in southwest Oregon disrupted exports of electricity from the Northwest July 9-14 as California sweated through another heat wave, forcing the state's grid operator to call for voluntary power conservation and to edge toward invoking rolling blackouts. Read More
Conservation groups involved in the 20-year lawsuit over Columbia River System Operations asked a federal judge July 16 to order several operational changes at eight dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers starting next spring, including increased spring spill for 24 hours a day to the m… Read More
In a pair of marathon meetings, members of the Columbia River Technical Management Team considered a series of operational changes at Snake River dams and fish plans to help salmon and steelhead through August, during which water temperatures in the lower Snake River are expected to continue… Read More
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reported out a $100 billion-plus energy infrastructure bill on July 14 to boost transmission expansion, fund technology demonstration projects, spur domestic production of critical minerals and plug orphaned oil and gas wells. Read More
A federal district judge ruled July 14 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to conduct deep drawdowns for fish at the expense of hydropower generation in the Willamette Valley Project. Read More
BPA says a recent assessment of how the four lower Snake River dams performed during last winter shows the value they can offer the region during extreme weather. Read More
Twenty-one members of the Northwest congressional delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden on June 29, asking his administration to update the Columbia River Treaty and keep Congress apprised of the negotiations. Read More
The plan to remove the four dams on the lower Klamath River recently gathered momentum after PacifiCorp gained federal approval to transfer the project’s license and state approval to transfer its ownership. Read More
FERC issued a preliminary permit to Daybreak Power in late June for its proposed 2,650 MW Halverson Canyon Pumped Storage project near Creston, Wash., about 35 miles upstream of Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. Read More
Seattle City Light is not required to study effects of removing the Gorge Dam as it seeks to relicense its Skagit River Hydroelectric Project [P-553], FERC ruled July 16. Read More
The U.S. Department of Energy made $27 million available on July 6 for wave energy research and development projects at the PacWave South test facility off the Oregon coast. Read More
For the first time in two decades, engineers and constructors have installed an in-conduit hydroelectric generation system in Southern California Edison's territory, and now hope to use the system's design to cost-effectively spread in-conduit generation across the Golden State. Read More