Energy Northwest: Safe, reliable power generation

On Jan. 31, 1957, the Washington state director of Conservation and Development signed the order that created the Washington Public Power Supply System, now Energy Northwest. The primary mission of the state agency would be to meet the needs and aggregate the resources of public utilities statewide and, through cooperative action, build and operate electrical generating and transmission facilities. Our name was officially changed in June 1999, but the mission remains the same: to provide public power members and regional customers with safe, reliable, cost-effective, responsible power generation and energy solutions, while keeping pace with changes in the world.

We focus on our mission by selecting, developing and retaining the right people, and promoting workforce diversity through hiring programs, such as internships and veteran hiring. Energy Northwest was recently named the 2016 Employer of the Year by the Association of Washington Business.

As a 24/7 operation, it can be challenging to implement innovative job retention, creation and compensation plans that foster a thriving work environment. Our workforce wouldn’t be as successful as they are without the understanding and support of their family members.

Power Generation

The agency owns and operates four facilities–nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar–that together generate more than 1,300 megawatts of carbon-free power, enough power to serve the continuous energy needs of approximately 1 million households. Columbia Generating Station, the third largest generator of electricity in the state, produced more clean energy for the Northwest power grid during 2016 than any other year in its 32-year history. Columbia sent more than 9.6 million megawatt-hours of electricity to the grid, beating the previous generation record set in 2014 (9.5 million MWhrs). Columbia has set new generation records four out of the last five years.

Columbia’s electricity output has steadily increased throughout the past five years in part due to work performed during the plant’s biennial refueling and maintenance outages, work that added roughly 40 megawatts to its capacity since 2011. Columbia now has an output of 1,190 megawatts (gross) while operating at a capacity factor above 93 percent since 2012. Columbia will shut down for its next refueling and maintenance outage May 13.

All of Columbia’s electricity is sold at-cost to the Bonneville Power Administration. Columbia represents about 12 percent of BPA’s firm energy and 9.5 percent of Bonneville’s sustained peak capacity. Ninety-two Northwest utilities receive a percentage of its output.

Economic Impact

Today Energy Northwest employs more than 1,100 local residents. The economic benefits of this workforce, combined with the agency’s tax contributions, amount to nearly a half billion dollars every year to the local economy.

The agency pays a privilege tax that is levied on organizations that enjoy the privilege of generating, distributing or selling electricity in Washington, and is authorized in the Revised Code of Washington. Privilege taxes collected by the state on Columbia output were distributed, as authorized by the RCW, with 44.9 percent of the payment ($1.96 million) going to the state school fund and 10.2 percent of the payment ($449,479) going to the general fund. The remaining 44.9 percent of the total taxes (another $1.96 million) will go to jurisdictions within a 35-mile radius of the Benton County intersection of Stevens Drive and Horn Rapids Road, with distribution based upon the population in each area.

The 39 separate jurisdictions receiving payments within the 35-mile radius of Columbia include Benton, Franklin, Grant, Walla Walla and Yakima counties; and the cities of Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, Benton City, Prosser, West Richland, Connell, Mesa, Grandview, Sunnyside and Mabton. Nineteen-point-eight percent of the tax is distributed to counties ($862,998), 20.6 percent to cities ($902,226), 2.7 percent to fire districts ($117,681) and 1.8 percent to library districts ($78,454).

We’re about sustaining excellence across our organization. While we work to improve efficiency and reduce costs, we will continue to focus first and foremost on safety and reliability to remain a viable future resource for the region. That remains our principle focus today as we proudly enter our 60th anniversary year.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Energy Northwest: Safe, reliable power generation."