Resources & Publications
Groups assail BPA’s woefully low efficiency spending proposal
NW Energy Coalition and 29 other clean energy advocacy organizations and businesses submitted a group letter to the Bonneville Power Administration April 11, urging the agency to adequately fund energy efficiency it its FY 2016-2017 capital budget. The letter expressed concern that the proposed budget is inadequate to meet BPA’s legal obligations or to pursue the best interests of the region.
Read MoreThe Energy Activist Update, Feb. 2014: Defending and advancing clean energy in Northwest state legislatures
NW Energy Coalition staff, members and allies are working to protect our clean energy future in legislative sessions in three of our four Northwest states. The February Energy Activist Update highlights legislative efforts in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The update also includes information on the upcoming NW Clean & Affordable Energy Conference in Helena.
Read MoreNWEC comments from recent Clean Air Act public session
NW Energy Coalition policy director Nancy Hirsh presented the following comments at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public listening session Nov. 7 in Seattle. The session concerned EPA’s plan to set CO2 standards for existing power plants under Section 111d of the Clean Air Act…
Read MoreVideo: Flathead Electric making use of solar, biomass projects
Flathead Electric Co-op and Stoltze lumber have entered into a 20 year deal to supplement some of FEC’s electricity with power generated from a new biomass boiler.
KPAX has the story of a couple of other projects the co-op is working on which could mean big things for power production in the future…
Read MoreThe Transformer – Washington regulators' rulings on Puget Sound Energy set national precedents
In June, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission issued a package of orders on three different Puget Sound Energy cases. The settlement and orders address PSE’s expedited rate filing, its proposed purchase of “coal transition power” from TransAlta Corp.’s coal plant in Centralia, Wash., and – perhaps most significantly – electric and gas decoupling to facilitate increased energy efficiency efforts by the utility.
This package of decisions ranks among the most important utility regulatory victories in decades for clean and affordable energy. The new edition of The Transformer summarizes the rulings and outlines the decoupling mechanism, the expedited rate filing and the TransAlta power purchase agreement…
Read MoreCelebrating Washington's Clean Energy Success
Voters passed Initiative 937 in 2006 to build on Washington’s clean energy heritage. At the time, new renewable energy made up less than 1% of the region’s electricity mix, even though new renewables would reduce risks and boost our economy. Six years after its passage, I-937 is doing exactly what Washington voters wanted. Official utility…
Read MoreComments of the NW Energy Coalition on the Sixth Power Plan Mid-Term Assessment – Situation Scan
The NW Energy Coalition appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the draft Situation Scan related to the Mid-Term Assessment of the Sixth Power and Conservation Plan. We appreciate all of the hard work that staff and Council members put into providing the region with an updated look at the assumptions, information and analysis of…
Read MoreThe Energy Activist – Spring 2012
The founders of the NW Energy Coalition recognized a painful truth: that the bountiful cheap electricity produced by the Northwest’s system of federally financed hydropower dams came at the cost of the incredible wild salmon runs that once defined our watershed and supported myriad cultures and communities. So they made sure the 1980 Northwest Power and Conservation Act required equitable use of Columbia Basin waters for power and fish.
Since then, this Coalition and our partners have had to fight tooth and nail to realize even minimal progress on that mandate. To this day, the federal agencies that run the dams and market their power have failed to offer any legally valid or scientifically defensible plan for recovering the iconic and economically crucial salmon stocks.
The Spring 2012 edition of The Energy Activist looks at the exciting potential to escape that quicksand…
Read MoreFrom the Outreach Director: Enjoy clean air and clean energy discussion this May in Kalispell
Recently I had occasion to spout off on the fallacy of the conventional energy wisdom from 30 plus years ago … the very conventional wisdom that the Coalition was born to challenge…
Read MoreFrom the Executive Director: Whatever they’re called, solutions tables work
Recently I had occasion to spout off on the fallacy of the conventional energy wisdom from 30 plus years ago … the very conventional wisdom that the Coalition was born to challenge…
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