Energy Crisis May Slam Salmon Recovery, Aluminum Plants

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Energy Crisis May Slam Salmon Recovery, Aluminum Plants March 12, 2001, 10:15 AM

By AP Staff

BOISE -- The Northwest's electricity crisis has forced federal hydropower marketers to set an entire industry adrift and may jettison salmon recovery programs to keep lights glowing.

The Bonneville Power Administration has told aluminum smelters they no longer can depend on cheap federal power. The agency also has warned it can't afford to divert any water away from its hydroelectric turbines to aid migration of endangered salmon.

Such measures emphasize the strain placed on the Columbia River's hydrosystem that helped win World War II and powered the development of the Pacific Northwest.

The second worst drought since 1929, along with sky-high wholesale electric rates due to California's shortfall, is forcing the agency to make harsh choices.

About 20 percent of Idaho's electricity comes from the Bonneville Power Administration, through rural electrical cooperatives and municipal utilities such as the one in Idaho Falls.

If the agency were to extend a special deal to keep the aluminum companies economically viable, it would have to charge more to these other customers, who by law have preference.

Meanwhile, California and other regions of the country want to end this preference, which critics oppose.

http://www.kgw.com/kgwnews/oregonwash_story.html?StoryID=15656

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 13, 2001


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