Addressing the Lower Snake River Dams’ Peaking Capacity
The Coalition released a short paper addressing the lower Snake River dams’ sustained peaking capacity. The paper analyzes operational data of the four federally-owned lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington to determine how much the dams contribute to sustained peaking capacity for Bonneville Power Administration customers.
The paper’s high-level look at the operational data shows that the lower Snake River dams:
- Provide maximum sustained peaking capacity during times when the Northwest grid already has an abundance of hydropower.
- Can provide limited multi-hour peaking capacity during times when peaking capacity is most needed, particularly mid-winter and late summer.
Download the full paper by clicking below.