Press Release: Council seeks comments on key regional energy issues for its next Northwest Power Plan

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February 7, 2002

PORTLAND -- With the energy crisis of 2001 and subsequent rate increases fresh in the public’s mind, the Council plans to tackle some regional energy issues in the next version of its Northwest Power Plan that might help avert future crises, including:

• While it is clear that high wholesale power prices encourage development of new power plants, what can be done to encourage the construction of new plants and the installation of new energy conservation measures when wholesale prices are low?
• What incentives would cause power users to reduce their demand when supplies are tight and prices are high?
• In the competitive wholesale electricity marketplace, how can timely information about power demand and supply be made available for assessing power supply adequacy and market performance?
• In a power emergency, what mechanisms and incentives might be employed to minimize the impact on fish from hydroelectric dam operations?
• With most new power plants using natural gas as a fuel, is there value in a more diverse mix of power generating and conservation resources, and, if so, what are the barriers to achieving more diversity?
• What should be the future role of the federal Bonneville Power Administration, the region’s largest power supplier?
• What options are available for either expanding the region’s system of high-voltage transmission lines or relieving the growing pressure on it, and what role might a regional or west-coast transmission organization play, if one is created?
• What effect does global warming have on the Northwest power system, if any?

The Council is required by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to produce a regional power plan that incorporates 20-year forecasts of demand for electricity and assesses strategies for meeting that future demand for power. In the plan, the Council also addresses key issues that can influence the achievement of the Power Act’s goal of protecting, mitigating and enhancing fish and wildlife affected by hydropower in the Columbia River Basin while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.

The Council is seeking comment by March 15 April 19 on the paper "Issues for the Fifth Northwest Power Plan", which discusses potential issues for the next power plan. The current plan dates to 1998, and the next plan will be developed over the next year.

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 with preparing a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin that have been affected by hydropower while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.

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