March 28, 2001

Blackout concerns mount By LANCE ROBERTSON The Register-Guard The Pacific Northwest's power planning agency issued a dire warning Tuesday about energy shortages this summer if the current drought continues and more water isn't run through turbines at regional dams to generate electricity.

The Northwest Power Planning Council said the potential for blackouts means that federal dam operators will have no choice but to reduce water spills that are done to help endangered salmon and steelhead make their way to the ocean.

"The water conditions we are facing this year give us few options," said Larry Cassidy, chairman of the four-state council, which sets policies ensuring that the region has enough power while protecting fish runs in the Columbia River basin.

A lack of rainfall has left rivers flowing at only about half their normal rate, the mountain snowpack is near an all-time low and reservoirs at power-generating dams aren't likely to fill up this spring.

Federal dam operators must decide by mid-April how much water to spill over the dams rather than through the turbines to help young salmon and steelhead migrate downstream.

Every gallon spilled means that much less water to generate electricity.

The council's 12-page report recommends a number of measures to help lessen the power crunch in a way that won't hurt fish runs too much.

``We're concerned about the potential for blackouts, and we're concerned about protecting fish as much as possible during what appears to be a serious drought, perhaps the worst on record,'' said Cassidy, Washington state's representative on the council.

A salmon protection plan issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service calls for holding large amounts of water in reservoirs and then releasing a certain amount from federal dams in the spring to help the fish.

The power council's plan calls for reducing those water releases below what the fisheries service salmon-protection plan calls for. That could put dam operators at risk of violating the Endangered Species Act, but the council report said it's the only way to avoid serious electricity shortages.

"It is a virtual certainty that these emergency operations also will be necessary during this spring and summer to keep the electricity system from suffering outages," the report said.

A "full spill" option would cost the Northwest almost 8,000 megawatt-months of electricity - enough to power Seattle for six months, the council said. A megawatt-month is 1 million watts of electricity running continuously for one month.

The report said the Northwest also will need enough water left in the reservoirs come August to avoid even worse supply problems next winter, when the region needs a lot more electricity for heating.

``Our best option probably is to take our medicine now by curtailing some spill and using that water to generate power and ensure that the reservoirs refill for next winter's peak electricity use,'' Cassidy said.

Indian tribes and conservation groups have been critical of suggestions that salmon and steelhead not get the water they need to migrate downstream.

``The power planning council is abandoning one-half of its mandate, and that is to protect and mitigate for fish and wildlife,'' said Charles Hudson, a spokesman for the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

``It appears only the salmon are being forced to take the medicine for the region. There is nothing in the decision that suggests balance.''

The full four-state council will consider its plan at its April 4 meeting in Boise.

The council only has authority to recommend actions to federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates many of the dams in the Columbia Basin.

Among other recommendations in the report:

Utilities should beef up conservation programs.

Utilities and the federal Bonneville Power Administration should reduce demand of large power users, such as aluminum mills, through "buybacks" - paying them to use less electricity - and other measures.

Utilities should bring emergency generators on line.

Environmental agencies should relax restrictions that prevent existing generating plants from running at full capacity, without jeopardizing public health.

State agencies should speed up approvals of new power generating plants.

Utilities and government agencies should implement immediate energy-efficiency programs, such as replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, upgrading commercial lighting systems and replacing old motors with more energy-efficient ones at factories. Doing that could save 224 megawatts of electricity, the report said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 28, 2001