Breaching Snake dams would more than double NW region’s risk of power shortages
Last fall, Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced they would lead a regional process to consider “all options” to restore declining salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River Basin, including the potential breaching of the lower Snake River dams (LSRD). After declaring they would approach the breaching question with open minds and without a predetermined decision, the process they have used has led many electric utility representatives and trade organizations to believe otherwise.
This coming month a draft “report” from the Murray-Inslee process will be released and it will not surprise me in the least if dam breaching advocacy is front and center. And while I appreciated being selected to provide input to the process, I continue to be frustrated and deeply concerned by the politicization of energy and environmental issues.
What else can you call it when Sen. Murray and Gov. Inslee choose to undermine and even ignore the recommendations derived from a multi-year, multi-million-dollar comprehensive study and 2020 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); an EIS developed by scientists, engineers, and other professionals who have worked for decades on balancing hydropower operations and fish recovery. It is irresponsible and clearly political to suggest the EIS cannot be trusted simply because it was completed during the previous presidential administration.
It is important for the public to understand, those who are responsible for planning and operating the power grid comprehensively and meticulously studied LSRD breaching as an EIS option, concluding it would more than double our region’s risk of power shortages and could result in as much as a 50% increase in wholesale electricity rates under a carbon free replacement scenario.
Providing affordable, environmentally responsible, and reliable electricity is a full-time job. And I am honored and proud to have made it my career. I don’t have all the answers but want the public to know, any claims coming out of the Murray-Inslee process suggesting part-time wind and solar power can easily replace LSRD hydropower are not supported by most of us in the business of helping ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of our customers. There are sound scientific reasons for our position, but it’s also just common sense.
Aggressive clean energy policies which are rapidly removing reliable generation from the grid are creating a deepening dependence on hydropower to provide the moment-by-moment balancing of electricity supply and demand. No matter what dam breaching advocates proclaim, the Snake River dams are not surplus and easily replaceable. In addition to being significant contributors to the blackout insurance needed during extreme weather conditions, the generation from the LSRD is foundational to the power supply portfolios of 142 Bonneville Power Administration customers, including 127 consumer-owned, not-for-profit utilities located in five northwest states.
Like countless others who rely on the federal hydropower system, I have worked hard to understand salmon science. I have also learned when trying to separate politics from science, be wary of those who say, “the science is settled” and proclaim the opinions of certain scientists as scientific facts. I have lived in the northwest almost my entire life and love all that our rivers provide. Salmon and steelhead recovery is an unbelievably complex issue, but from my chair the science is far from settled. There is still plenty we don’t know and need to understand before considering radical action like dam breaching; especially now.
We need to keep the lower Snake River dams.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 10:19 AM.