The Northwest’s Crown Jewels
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc.
We serve you the energy that powers your life.
Last month, I talked about how renewable but variable wind and solar generation are not comparable replacements when carbonemitting but dispatchable coal generation is retired. This trend threatens resource adequacy, potentially leading to blackouts. We have another threat to grid reliability in the Northwest driven by differing opinions.
CCEC buys electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency created by Congress in 1937. BPA is charged with marketing the electricity generated by the 31 federal hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River drainage. The Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) generates enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes. Like all Northwest consumer-owned electric distribution utilities, CCEC has a statutory right to a portion of this renewable, carbon-free, dispatchable electricity source, which makes up 85% of CCEC’s energy portfolio.
The FCRPS is a crown jewel of the Northwest Along with the benefits of abundant, low-cost, clean, renewable energy, building the FCRPS drastically changed the environment of another Northwest crown jewel—salmon and steelhead. This is the source of differing opinions. One opinion believes fish populations can remain healthy with the dams in place.Another opinion believes dams threaten the long-term health of fish populations.
Reconciling these differences of opinion is hard because the science differs as much as the opinions. As I mentioned last month, ideally opinions are formed from facts. Here are a few relevant facts about FCRPS and fish.
At CCEC, we believe that dams can coexist with and promote healthy fish populations.
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We will continue to work with our industry partners and regional stakeholders to preserve our hydropower resources. You can learn more at nwriverpartners.org/resources.
General Manager and CEO
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative