September 2006 Issue

Council Approves Draft Fish and Wildlife Funding Recommendations for FY 2007 - 2009

The Council is seeking comment on its draft fish and wildlife funding recommendations for fiscal years 2007 through 2009. The Council recommends projects to implement its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program to the Bonneville Power Administration for funding. The comment period ends on Friday, October 6. The Council will make its final decisions on project funding at its meeting in Helena, Montana, October 17 - 18.

Council Seeks Comment on Draft Regional Resource Adequacy Implementation Plan

The Council approved the release of a draft Regional Resource Adequacy Implementation Plan for public comment. The comment period ends on October 25, and the Council plans to make a decision on the plan at its November meeting in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Adoption of the plan marks another important step toward ensuring that the region has adequate energy resources.

July 24 Power Alert: What happened, why, and what it means 

On July 24, during a period of record high temperatures in the West, several of the region's utilities declared NERC alerts signaling that all resources were in operation; spot market prices spiked to $400 per megawatt-hour; and Bonneville had to alert the TMT that it may have to violate spill requirements in order to meet power needs. "While we weren't on the verge of blackouts–it was more of an economic situation than a reliability issue–it was a wake-up call for the region," said Wally Gibson, the Council's system analysis and generation manager. The Council and Bonneville, with assistance from the Resource Adequacy Forum Technical Committee and the Northwest Power Pool, have been reviewing the events of July 24, and Gibson presented the preliminary findings (280k PDF) to the Council. A full report will be presented to the Council in the future.