Lower Snake River - Impact Area Special Groups
Participating stakeholders will discuss, update and finalize this section. The Group’s objective is to discuss solutions on how to restore the Snake River while also meeting the impact area needs and, most times, improving on what is thought to be possible today. To add your voice, to discuss your concerns and to collaborate on a mutual solution, please Join Us.
Energy Experts - Call to Action
We have the answers to move us into the 21st century and beyond utilizing our modern knowledge and technologies we’ve garnered since the 60s when the dams were built.
Through unification, we call on all Energy experts to work through challenges with the sense of urgency we are now facing, instead of creating grid-locks to demonstrate how the region can be modernized and the NW ecosystem restored for future generations.
Explore the viability and economic impact of available alternative energy sources to meet regional needs.
Recognize the threats hydropower faces as a reliable energy source with increased droughts, temperatures, and demand.
Consider phased approaches and other methods to begin the restoration process while there’s still time for wild salmon recovery.
Challenges & Benefits - Energy
Figure A-3 shows how these generation levels match up with BPA’s other resources and total power needs, including BPA loads as well as exports to other power areas
A subset of topics included as starter - additional to be added by Energy Stream leads and collaborators
Claim: “The four Lower Snake River Dams are critical to America’s economy and the Pacific Northwest’s electrical grid.” Ref. Congressman Cliff Bentz 4/8/24 Letter to Office of Management and Budget.
Proving otherwise:
Conservation in Pacific Northwest region has replaced one Lower Snake River (LSR) dam each year since 2000. Looking forward, the Northwest Power & Conservation Council (NPCC) has identified 740aMW cost-effective measures available by 2027.
LSR hydropower is surplus to NW energy needs. In fact, Energy Strategies found only two hours in 10 years in which LSR hydropower staved off power purchases by the federal electricity-marketing agency, Bonneville Power Administration (see Figure A-1: Historic LSR Dams’ Generation and BPA Loads).
The Department of Energy commissioned Energy and Environmental Economics (E3) report that a future with “Deep Decarbonization” is cheaper, with fewer renewable builds needed, when LRS dams are removed (see E3’s page 41 discussion of results for a reasonable ELCC curve of battery storage, replacing the Electric Load Carrying Capacity (ELCC) curve assumed for the main section of the report).
Notably, any good model of the region’s electric grid will show similar result. LSR “must-run” hydropower forces the curtailment of other renewables when demand for energy is lacking (e.g. in the middle of the night).
During the cold of winter, when Northwest energy demands are highest, the Idaho mountain-fed Lower Snake River has less river flow; less “fuel” available for power production.
The best model to refute/support the Congressman Bentz’s contention (above), is NPCC’s publicly and transparently redeveloped GENESYS. Oddly, that model has yet to inform the region.
Though challenged in the Ninth Circuit Court, NPCC has steadfastly refused to allow their state-of-art model to inform the public on this important question: What are the economic impacts to electricity ratepayers upon LSR dam breaching while system adequacy and reliability is assured?
Authoritatively answering that question, a $40-million NEPA process found that BPA customer’s rate pressure would be reduced by 5.1% immediately and by 15.1% once Idaho’s salmon are delisted from ESA protection.
Washington State’s score for United States Sustainable Development Goals is 58.1%. Of 17 overall goals, breaching the four Lower Snake River dams will have a positive impact on the 7 below.
Fostering Dialogue: Examining Evidence Together
This graph from BPA and the US Army of Corps of Engineers clearly demonstrate that the peak energy demand and energy supply by the Lower Snake River dams don’t align.
Peak energy demand (the purple line) is Nov-Feb and then again in July.
Peak energy production by the LSRDs are March through May/June.
Conclusion: The peak energy demand is already met by other dams and suppliers in the Northwest. The LSRDs do not provide this energy or reliability during peak times.
THEY CLAIM:
Without the 4 LSRDs we will lose energy reliability required to meet Northwest energy demand.
FACT CHECK - Peak LSRD Volume Doesn’t Match Peak NW Energy Demand
In their report, once again, Northwest Energy Coalition clarifies this false assumption.
In 2021, PacifiCorp issued a request for proposals (RFP) for bids to deliver renewable energy by 2023/24. They selected responses that were significantly below the BPA rates ($38).
Conclusion: Ratepayers could have been paying much less than what BPA is charging the utilities and the utilities charging the customers IF we changed the grid to renewable sources at last since 2018.
Replacing the energy provided from Lower Snake River hydropower to already available renewable sources will decrease the cost of energy produced.
THEY CLAIM:
Energy from other renewable sources will be more expensive than LSRD-generated energy.
FACT CHECK - Declining Clean Energy Costs
The cost to the utilies based on energy source. Meaning ratepayers would be paying less… compared to BPA’s $38
In their report, once again, Northwest Energy Coalition clarifies this false assumption.
In 2021, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) issued another RFP for 3200 MW of energy to be available to them by end of 2025. The responses showed that there were over 18,000 MW of renewable energies either already available, or woul dbe available by 2025.
Conclusion: There is a surplus, not a shortage, of renewable energy available in the Northwest ready to replace the energy from the Lower Snake River dams.
THEY CLAIM:
Energy required in the northwest is not yet available by other renewable sources.
FACT CHECK - A Surplus of Renewables Available to the Grid by 2025
Northwest Energy Coalition’s report, once again, clarifies this false assumption.
The cost of maintaining the dams continue to increase year after year.
Their generators have been in use for 40-60 years - only two have been rebuilt so far, with others requiring expensive replacements projects in the upcoming years.
Replacing each turbine costs $58 million translating to $600 million just for the aging turbine replacements with a conservative approach.
Meanawhile - with continuing innovations and technological advancements, the price and cost of building and maintaining the renewable energies continue to fall.
Conclusion: Transitioning to a renewable energy portfolio will be cheaper for ratepayers and the environment in the long run.
THEY CLAIM:
Transitioning to renewables will be more expensive than keeping the LSRDs
FACT CHECK - Increasing Costs of Maintaining the Aging Lower Snake River Dams
Additional Topics and Resources
TBD by Subject Leaders and Experts
This section to be developed by the leads in the unification.
If you are an energy expert who wants to take part in the collaboration for restoring the Snake River please Join Us.
The Answers are Out There
We only need to ask HOW.