Northwest Power and Conservation Council Releases Draft 2021 Power Plan
To learn more about the 2021 Northwest Power Plan and how to get involved, please join us for one of two upcoming webinars. We’ll review what’s in the plan, its strengths and drawbacks – and provide information and talking points that you can use to send in comments or participate in a public comment hearing on the Draft.
2021 Northwest Power Plan: Your Voice Matters!
Webinar #1 – Hosted by the NW Energy Coalition
September 27th
12:00pm – 1:30pm PT / 1:00pm – 2:30pm MT
2021 Northwest Power Plan: Your Voice Matters!
Webinar #2 – Hosted by the NW Energy Coalition
October 6th
12:00pm – 1:30pm PT / 1:00pm – 2:30pm MT
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, the region’s official power planning agency, has just released the draft of its 2021 Northwest Power Plan. The public now has until November 19th to submit written comments, and several opportunities to testify at public hearings (virtually):
- September 27, 5-7pm Mountain, 4pm-6pm Pacific, hosted by Montana
- October 7, 5-7pm Pacific, 6pm – 8pm Mountain, hosted by Washington
- October 12, 1:30-3:30pm Pacific, 2:30-4:30pm Mountain hosted by Oregon
- October 14, 5pm-7pm Mountain, 4pm-6pm Pacific, hosted by Idaho
The Council’s power plan is important. It helps determine how much clean energy and energy efficiency we use by providing a blueprint for power system decisions throughout the region. It guides the Bonneville Power Administration’s choice of resources to meet public utilities’ needs and establishes benchmarks for the long-term plans of both public and investor-owned utilities.
The 2021 Northwest Power Plan comes at a critical time. The region needs to replace the energy and capacity services from retiring fossil fuel resources and meet aggressive economy-wide greenhouse gas reduction goals in Washington and Oregon, while maintaining reliability and affordability. As we begin to see the impacts of climate change on the grid, the importance of having a clean, flexible, and resilient power system has never been greater.
Our Coalition formed to monitor the Council’s first plan in the early 1980s. We continue that work, advocating for plans that prioritize money-saving energy efficiency and affordable new renewables and that address consumer and environmental/wildlife needs.
That advocacy has paid off. Previous plans focused on energy efficiency and new renewables to meet power needs, and thus helped build the Northwest’s clean energy economy. Since the release of the first Northwest Power Plan in 1983, the region’s utilities have acquired more than 7,200 average megawatts of energy efficiency – more than twice the annual average generation of Grand Coulee Dam.
The 2021 Plan can maintain that momentum, but only if public-interest voices let the Council know which parts of the 2021 Plan we support, and which parts could be improved.
Resources:
2021 Northwest Power Plan Brochure
For questions on how to get involved please contact Kat Plimpton at kat@nwenergy.org