By Region
Energy Advocates Retreat
In September, we held our first-ever Energy Advocates retreat in Portland, in partnership with GEI, Citizens Utility Board, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association, Multnomah County, Verde, Clackamas Community College, and Climate Solutions. The idea for the retreat followed the 2025 Oregon legislative session and the huge wave of implementation that’s now moving to the…
Op-ed: BPA needs to think about costs, customers
In Montana and across the Northwest, energy demand is climbing. Add to that increasingly severe weather events, and you have a recipe for high costs and insufficient energy and transmission during peak demand. To address this, our region needs more access to reliable, affordable and renewable energy for decades to come. One way to do…
The Value of Coalition
The NW Energy Coalition has just completed our Spring membership meetings and educational conference and I am inspired by the effective and collaborative work of Coalition members and allies in sharing best practices and helping communities and governments ensure that we have the most effective policies and programs to advance a clean, reliable and affordable…
NWEC Statement on BPA’s Day-Ahead Market Policy Final Decision
NWEC is disappointed that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is choosing to join Markets+, a project developed by the Arkansas based Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and with a more limited portfolio of clean energy resources. NWEC agrees with BPA that joining a day-ahead energy market is the correct strategy to achieve our shared goals…
Webinar: Wildfire and Utilities
This webinar covered the intersection between wildfire and utilities, policymakers, and communities. Increased fire risk is threatening communities as utilities work to mitigate risk and policymakers are deciding how to regulate them. We explored this intersection, and the role advocates can play in the development of utility regulations, legislation, and wildfire mitigation plans that will…
Feb. 2025 Newsletter – Save the date for our spring conference, updates from NW Energy Coalition
Spring 2025 Clean & Affordable Energy Conference: Missoula, May 7 Join the NW Energy Coalition this spring in Missoula for our Clean & Affordable Energy Conference! We’ll have three panel discussions throughout the day featuring dialogue from experts in Montana on moving a clean energy transition forward. Panelists will talk about how Tribal communities are…
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Issues Puget Sound Energy Risk-Sharing Order for Natural Gas Climate Commitment Act: Impact and Implications
By Will Gehrke, Senior Technical Analyst, NW Energy Coalition NWEC, Climate Solutions, and Washington Conservation Action, represented by Earthjustice, intervened in a UTC proceeding to propose a risk-sharing mechanism for Puget Sound Energy’s costs of complying with the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). The UTC issued a Final Order on Friday, February 21, 2025. Background: The Climate…
Pathways Initiative’s Step One Proposal for Governance of a West-Wide Energy Market
A single, unified energy market in the West is essential to unlock the clean energy resource potential of the West, enable efficient use of our infrastructure, and maintain a reliable and affordable energy system. The West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative is a collaborative, multi-step effort to create this connected, independently governed Western energy market, as discussed…
The path for gas utility decarbonization in Washington state
The transition from gas to electricity is well underway in Washington state in response to both climate change and bold state policies designed to address it. State climate policies set progressive targets, like the Clean Energy Transformation Act requiring 80% of electric utilities’ resources to be clean (renewable or non-emitting) by 2030 and 100% clean…
Pathways Initiative addresses the key challenge to a West-wide electricity market
This blog post discusses the latest developments in creating a single, unified West-wide market – essential for keeping rates affordable, improving reliability, and meeting our clean energy and decarbonization goals. For an introduction to energy markets, we highly recommend checking out our Markets Month series (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Pathways Initiative addresses…