February 2007 Issue

Report Outlines Actions to Integrate Wind Energy Into Northwest's Power System

Jeff King, senior resource analyst, briefed (300k PDF) the Council on the findings of the draft Wind Integration Action Plan. The plan was initiated by the Council and the Bonneville Power Administration to address the issues surrounding integrating wind energy into the region's power system. The plan was developed with participation from regional utilities, wind power developers, state commissions, and others.
    King noted that the current system is capable of operationally integrating up to 6,000 megawatts of wind capacity at costs comparable to the estimates in the Council's Fifth Power Plan. In the very short term there is available transmission capacity to integrate additional wind resources, but this is not expected to last beyond 2009. A new approach to serving the transmission requirements of wind and new transmission will be needed to achieve the 6,000 megawatts of wind envisioned in the Council's Power Plan.

2007 Power and Water Supply Forecasts

Jim Ruff, manager of mainstem passage and river operations, and John Fazio, senior power system analyst, presented updates (550k PDF) on the water supply forecasts for 2007. Ruff noted that because of low snowpack, the Snake River runoff is expected to be below average. There is also the possibility that the runoff will be early this year. In contrast to the rest of the basin, the runoff for the Columbia River is about average.
    On the power side, Fazio noted that the spring/summer outlook appeared "pretty good."  The outlook for fish is more uncertain, with a 50/50 chance of meeting the flow requirements of the biological opinion in the spring, with less certainty in the summer.

2007 Forecast for Spring Chinook Salmon Anticipated to be Lower than 2006 Returns

Pete Hassemer, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, reviewed the 2006 Spring Chinook salmon returns and also presented the 2007 forecast. With a few exceptions, the 2007 forecast predicts lower returns this year compared to 2006. See presentation (2mb PDF).