Idaho Power predicts water woes

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JANUARY 13, 2001, 09:15 PM Idaho Power predicts water woes

Associated Press The US Weather Service River Forecast Center's preliminary inflow outlook for Brownlee Reservoir during the crucial April-July period indicates hydrogeneration conditions may not be up to par this summer.

The center's early volume forecast for the 58-mile-long reservoir is 3.69 million acre feet, only 64 percent of the 30-year average. Inflow last year totaled 4.35 million acre feet.

Brownlee Reservoir is the key storage facility for Idaho Power's three-dam Hells Canyon complex. The dams - Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon - represent nearly 60 percent of Idaho's hydroelectric generation capacity.

Hydrogenerating conditions there dictate how much electricity Idaho Power must generate from other, often more costly, resources.

In good water years, the company's 17 hydroelectric plants make more than half of the electricity used by Idaho Power customers. The balance comes from the company's coal-fired plants or is purchased from other sources.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/newstory.html?StoryID=5011

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 14, 2001


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