Announcements
Project spotlight: Boise is #Readyfor100
Boise citizens are ready to take action on climate change, which is already bringing more frequent forest fires, alarming air quality problems and yet more challenges to struggling salmon populations in Idaho. Almost 40% of Boise’s electricity comes from coal, despite the fact that carbon emissions from burning coal are among the largest contributors to climate change.
Fall Clean & Affordable Energy Conference
Save the date! Fall Clean & Affordable Energy Conference Portland, OR November 17-18, 2016 November 17: plenary sessions and solar track November 18: Coalition membership and caucus meetings (members only)…
Gov. Brown signs Oregon’s historic clean electricity, coal transition bill into law
The Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Act was developed by a unique alliance including the NW Energy Coalition and many of its members and allies: the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon, Climate Solutions, Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pacific Power, Portland General Electric, Renewable Northwest and Sierra Club. Tested and improved through legislative review and input from the state’s Public Utility Commission, the bill won Senate approval on March 2 on the heels of a bipartisan House vote the week before.
Bob Jenks OpEd in Statesman Journal: "Transition from coal is best for Oregon’s energy future"
As the executive director of the Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon (CUB), Oregon’s utility ratepayer advocate for 30 years, I am pleased to have negotiated with a coalition of utilities and clean energy advocates to craft proposed House Bill 4036 or The Clean Energy and Transition from Coal Bill.
Idaho Statesman: "Idaho’s energy future: Less coal, uncertain hydro"
When you flip a light switch in Idaho, chances are the electricity came from some combination of the following: a hydroelectric plant, a natural gas plant, a wind turbine and a coal plant outside the state. Hydropower satisfies roughly half of Idaho’s electricity demand. Coal-fired plants in Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon and Montana pitch in another 35 percent. A handful of natural gas plants and hundreds of wind turbines make up most of the remainder.
Coalition comments highlight strengths, weaknesses of draft 7th Power Plan
On Dec. 18, the NW Energy Coalition submitted its written comments on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s draft 7th regional plan which, when finalized, will inform resource decisions by Northwest electric utilities for the next 20 years – especially in the initial five- to six-year action plan period.
Conference spotlight: Climate science and our changing hydrograph
Dr. Joe Casola of the UW’s Climate Impacts Group will provide the framing address for the NW Energy Coalition’s Clean & Affordable Energy Conference. He will prepare the audience for the policy panels that follow by providing the latest climate science, with a focus on the Northwest’s changing hydrograph and how these changes affect hydropower production and salmon survival.
PRESS RELEASE: NWEC Conference and Gala next Thursday in Seattle
Climate change is affecting the hydrology of the Columbia Basin. The Dec. 3 NW Clean and Affordable Energy Conference in Seattle will consider the nature and extent of the changes, what they mean for power production and salmon survival, and the best policies for reducing the carbon emissions that cause them.