Drought, California Energy Shortage Create Gloomy Winter Outlook in Northwest Source: The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

8/8/01 3:45:00 AM

Aug. 8--The drought-stricken Columbia River Basin remains so short of water to run hydroelectric dams that the Northwest may have to borrow power from California to keep the lights on this winter.

But there's no guarantee that energy-strapped California will have power to share when the Northwest needs it.

We're in the red zone, said Ed Mosey, a spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.

Relying on California for energy to heat homes and businesses could happen this winter, Mosey said.

The Columbia Basin has been as dry as it now is only once before in more than 70 years, in 1977.

According to a recent Bonneville estimate, the basin's rivers contain only about 55.5 million acre-feet of water, the amount of water needed to cover 55.5 million acres one foot deep.

Bonneville's engineers estimate it takes 80 million acre-feet to meet the federal power marketing agency's firm load.

At 60 million acre-feet -- a level called critical water -- Mosey said, we're in trouble.

The latest -- and most troubling -- estimate of available water is also the lowest this year.

In January, hydrologists estimated 71.8 million acre-feet were available. In March, the number dropped to 58.6 million acre-feet.

Utilities like Tacoma Power that own hydroelectric dams have been conserving all the reservoir water they could, releasing only minimal flows -- just enough to meet the requirements for salmon and steelhead protection -- through their generators.

In mid June, Bonneville ceased salmon-related spills from Columbia dams.

Bonneville and California's Department of Water Resources and the California Independent System Operator reached agreement in June on a formal plan to share scarce electricity during California's hot summer and the Northwest's cold winter.

Until that agreement, the two areas have shared power informally through a series of high-voltage transmission lines that run from Washington all the way to Los Angeles.

The system was designed to exchange power to avoid having to build extra power plants in both regions. The tie-lines can carry about 7,000 megawatts to peak use.

Last summer, however, when the West Coast's energy crisis started in California and Northwest utility executives realized the region was being hit by a drought, there was precious little surplus to exchange in either region.

Only a few hundred megawatts of energy were moving north or south during the past year. Part of the reason California suffered periodic blackouts was because the Northwest had no surplus power to send.

Last summer, there was more consternation generated than energy in California, Mosey said, so the sharing plan was formalized.

It calls for each area to return a bit more power than was borrowed. The Northwest, for example, could send power to California to help that state avoid blackouts this summer when air conditioning demand is high, then get the power back this winter when Northwest residents have to heat their homes.

This agreement protects and benefits the Northwest while helping California when it is possible, said Bonneville administrator Steve Wright.

Each area will pay a premium if the other area is forced to violate federal laws to generate power.

http://www.office.com/news/energy/11/2/

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 08, 2001