Opinion: Are Rolling Blackouts Becoming the New Normal? (Pamplin Media Group, Portland, OR)

Kurt Miller, Executive Director
Northwest RiverPartners

(VANCOUVER, WA) - - The hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who spent days without electricity, due to the recent ice storm, learned firsthand that power outages represent something more than an inconvenience.

If you lose power during a period of extreme cold or heat, lives can be at risk. It's one thing to know that downed trees are causing you and your neighbors to be without electricity and that local utility crews are working 24/7 to restore it. But imagine the millions of people in Texas who had their power purposely shut off by the state's grid operator.

A sustained blast of Arctic air spiked the state's heating demand at the same time that natural gas pipelines filled with ice, coal piles froze, and over half of Texas' substantial wind turbine fleet stopped producing electricity, in part due to frozen blades.

As a result, the Texas grid operator had to ration electricity by purposely shutting off supply to different sections of the grid on a rotating basis — also known as rolling blackouts.

Similarly, this past summer, California's grid operator implemented rolling blackouts during an extreme heatwave that coincided with wildfire smoke that reduced solar power production. Unfortunately, that's how blackouts tend to work — they are most apt to occur when we need electricity the most. In part, this relationship occurs because extreme temperatures put power plants under additional stress, which leads to a higher probability of plant failures.

Intermittent renewables, like wind and solar power tend to be particularly susceptible to regionwide weather events, because they depend on specific types of weather for their fuel.

To help fight climate change and reduce the frequency of related extreme weather events, many policy leaders agree we need to move away from fossil-fueled plants. However, by putting all of our eggs in one basket with wind, solar and batteries, we are left at the mercy of the very events we are trying to prevent.

If we do so, rolling blackouts may become the new normal on a nationwide scale. Given the life and death implications of blackouts during extreme weather, we cannot afford to have a vulnerable grid. Instead, we need to consider a more balanced carbon reduction approach that includes other carbon-free resources.

Recently, notable national and international organizations are urging policy leaders to remember the critical role of hydropower. The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based watchdog, is encouraging a doubling of global investment in sustainable hydropower, calling it renewable energy's forgotten workhorse.

Separately, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, in a recent report, called on Congress to, "(preserve) operating nuclear plants and hydroelectric facilities where possible." The Academies include a social justice framework to make their argument, stating that our existing low-cost carbon-free resources are necessary to keep electricity affordable, or we risk leaving vulnerable communities behind.

In 2020, the Union of Concerned Scientists was part of a larger consortium that acknowledged the critical role that hydropower plays in helping add intermittent renewables to the grid. Even U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, who is advocating breaching the lower Snake River dams in Washington state in an attempt to help struggling salmon populations, acknowledges how important those dams are to the Pacific Northwest. His proposed $33.5 billion package to mitigate their potential loss speaks volumes.

It's important to recognize that there is no perfect form of electricity generation. But a common-sense approach is to maintain existing hydropower generation wherever possible. It takes a healthy balance of energy sources to meet demand when we need it most.

At a time when we already are struggling to recover the economy and keep our communities safe and healthy, we cannot allow rolling blackouts to become the new normal.

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Kurt Miller is executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, a not-for-profit organization that advocates hydropower for community-owned utilities across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada.

The Energy News Digest for February 22, 2021

The Energy News Digest is sponsored by the Northwest Public Power Association.

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HOT SHOTS – TODAY’S TOP FIVE STORIES

As Some Texans See Electric Bills Skyrocket, Most Central Texans (Coop & Municipal customers) Should Be Spared Pricing Spikes (Austin American Statesman, TX)

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/21/some-texans-report-sky-high-bills-customers-austin-energy-bluebonnet-electric-cooperative-and-pedern/4532667001/

Power Restoration from Oregon Storm Could Take a Week More (Oregonian, Portland, OR)

https://apnews.com/article/ice-storms-storms-portland-oregon-e14cdf8b3b5b66f43a886e0498cd4f98

Warming Seas Could Wipe Out Snake River Chinook by 2060, Scientists Predict (Phys.Org)

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-seas-snake-river-chinook-scientists.html

Climate Change Will Exacerbate Flooding in Columbia River Basin, OSU Study Finds (Columbia Insight)

https://columbiainsight.org/climate-change-will-exacerbate-flooding/

U.S. House Republicans Propose Nationwide Ban on Municipal Broadband Networks (Ars Technica)

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/02/gop-plan-for-broadband-competition-would-ban-city-run-networks-across-us/

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS (See Stories Below)

1.      As Some Texans See Electric Bills Skyrocket, Most Central Texans (Coop & Municipal customers) Should Be Spared Pricing Spikes

2.      Texas Homes Slammed by Thousand-Dollar Power Bills after Storm

3.      Texas Utility Commission Orders Delay of Power Disconnections Due to Concerns over High Bills

4.      Texas & California Built Different Power Grids, But Neither Stood Up to Climate Change

5.      ‘The Grid’ Author on How Texas Crisis Highlights a Fragile U.S. Infrastructure

6.      Power Restoration from Oregon Storm Could Take a Week More

7.      Can Utilities Prevent the Extreme Power Outages Oregon Experienced in Last Week’s Ice Storm? Maybe, But at a Cost

8.      Inland Northwest Protected, But Not Immune from Power Outages

9.      California Officials Oppose Pacific Gas & Electric Mandates That Could Expand Blackouts

10.   Clallam County, WA – Bonneville Power Administration Takes Out ‘Danger Trees’

11.   Snake River Dams Proposal Draws Accolades, Criticism

12.   Op/Ed: Simpson Dam Idea Broadly Fails Idaho Interests

13.   Op/Ed: Rep. Simpson’s Snake River Dams Plan Raises Concerns & Questions

14.   Moody’s Announces Completion of a Periodic Review of Ratings of Energy Northwest, WA - Project 1

15.   First Native American Tribe Set to Be a Transmission Owner in the California ISO

16.   Paratrooper Rescued after Becoming Tangled in Arizona Power Lines

17.   FERC Gives Preliminary Permit to 2.2 GW Storage Project That Would Use Navajo Coal Plant Power Lines

18.   Oregon’s Clean Energy Sector Took a 6,000-Job Hit in 2020

19.   WA State – Group Seeks to Save Horse Heaven Ridges from Wind Project

20.   Biden Energy Dept Orders Sweeping Review of Trump Energy Rules

21.   Warming Seas Could Wipe Out Snake River Chinook by 2060, Scientists Predict

22.   Climate Change Threatens Chinook Salmon throughout Their Life Cycle

23.   Seattle’s Skagit River Dams Hurt Salmon, Orcas & Native American Culture, Agencies Say

24.   Herring Catch Quota in British Columbia’s Georgia Strait Will Ensure Health of Species

25.   Another Calf Born to Endangered Northwest Salish Sea Orcas

26.   Climate Change Will Exacerbate Flooding in Columbia River Basin, OSU Study Finds

27.   A Dam Good Example of Collaboration on California Water Issues

28.   WA State: Skagit PUD Moving Ahead on $35.5 Million Infrastructure Project

29.   Colorado River Study Means It’s Time to Cut Water Use Now, Outside Experts Say

30.   Oregon Climate Program Draws Fire for Leaving Out Natural Gas Power Plants

31.   U.S. House Republicans Propose Nationwide Ban on Municipal Broadband Networks

32.   WA State: Grant PUD Expands Fiber Optic Network throughout County

33.   AT&T Scrambles to Install Fiber For 90-Year-Old after His Viral Wall Street Journal Ad

34.   WA State: Hack of Seattle Payments Processing Firm Puts Local Governments & Utilities on Alert

35.   ‘That Rhythm Is Gone’: Washington State Legislators on the Pros & Cons of Virtual Government

WORD OF THE DAY

Cognoscente \conn-yuh-SHEN-tee\ Noun – A person who has expert knowledge in a subject: connoisseur.

Ariel would be the first to admit that her vocation was a rarity. As the resident tiddlywink cognoscente at “Wham-O,” her enigmatic knowledge of the alchemy of plastics, design criteria for the perfect squidger, even the dimensions of winks and the pot was unrivaled. Like the secret to Colonel Sander’s eleven herbs and spices, Ariel’s knowledge was a mystery of the highest order.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS

1.      As Some Texans See Electric Bills Skyrocket, Most Central Texans (Coop & Municipal customers) Should Be Spared Pricing Spikes (Austin American Statesman, TX)

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/21/some-texans-report-sky-high-bills-customers-austin-energy-bluebonnet-electric-cooperative-and-pedern/4532667001/

2.      Texas Homes Slammed by Thousand-Dollar Power Bills after Storm (Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-20/texas-homes-slammed-with-thousand-dollar-bills-after-winter-woe

3.      Texas Utility Commission Orders Delay of Power Disconnections Due to Concerns over High Bills (KXAN-TV, Austin, TX)

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-utility-commission-orders-delay-of-power-disconnections-due-to-potential-high-bills

4.      Texas & California Built Different Power Grids, But Neither Stood Up to Climate Change (Politico)

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/21/texas-california-climate-change-power-grids-470434

5.      ‘The Grid’ Author on How Texas Crisis Highlights a Fragile U.S. Infrastructure (National Public Radio)

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/20/969800182/the-grid-author-on-how-texas-crisis-highlights-a-fragile-u-s-infrastructure

ENERGY & UTILITY ISSUES

6.      Power Restoration from Oregon Storm Could Take a Week More (Oregonian, Portland, OR)

https://apnews.com/article/ice-storms-storms-portland-oregon-e14cdf8b3b5b66f43a886e0498cd4f98

7.      Can Utilities Prevent the Extreme Power Outages Oregon Experienced in Last Week’s Ice Storm? Maybe, But at a Cost (Oregonian, Portland, OR)

https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2021/02/can-utilities-prevent-the-extreme-power-outages-oregon-experienced-in-last-weeks-ice-storm-maybe-but-at-a-cost.html

8.      Inland Northwest Protected, But Not Immune from Power Outages (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA)

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/feb/17/inland-northwest-protected-but-not-immune-from-pow/

9.      California Officials Oppose Pacific Gas & Electric Mandates That Could Expand Blackouts (Courthouse News Service)

https://www.courthousenews.com/california-officials-oppose-pge-mandates-that-could-expand-blackouts/

10.   Clallam County, WA – Bonneville Power Administration Takes Out ‘Danger Trees’ (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/bpa-takes-out-danger-trees/

11.   Snake River Dams Proposal Draws Accolades, Criticism (Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles, WA)

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/snake-river-dams-proposal-draws-accolades-criticism/

12.   Op/Ed: Simpson Dam Idea Broadly Fails Idaho Interests (Twin Falls Times-News, ID)

https://magicvalley.com/opinion/columnists/simpson-dam-idea-broadly-fails-idaho-interests/article_999d74da-18af-55d4-9e9d-eff1f248d96f.html

13.   Op/Ed: Rep. Simpson’s Snake River Dams Plan Raises Concerns & Questions (Idaho Statesman, Boise, ID)

https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article249314970.html

14.   Moody’s Announces Completion of a Periodic Review of Ratings of Energy Northwest, WA - Project 1 (Yahoo Finance)

https://www.yahoo.com/now/energy-northwest-wa-moodys-announces-205608797.html

15.   First Native American Tribe Set to Be a Transmission Owner in the California ISO (American Public Power Association)

https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/first-native-american-tribe-set-be-transmission-owner-california-iso

16.   Paratrooper Rescued after Becoming Tangled in Arizona Power Lines (Associated Press)

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-central-southern-az/casa-grande/paratrooper-rescued-after-becoming-tangled-in-power-lines-in-arizona

RENEWABLE ENERGY & SELF STORAGE

17.   FERC Gives Preliminary Permit to 2.2 GW Storage Project That Would Use Navajo Coal Plant Power Lines (Utility Dive)

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-gives-preliminary-permit-to-22-gw-storage-project-that-would-use-nava/595414/

18.   Oregon’s Clean Energy Sector Took a 6,000-Job Hit in 2020 (Portland Business Journal, OR)

https://energynewsdigest.blogspot.com/2021/02/oregons-clean-energy-sector-took-6000.html

19.   WA State – Group Seeks to Save Horse Heaven Ridges from Wind Project (KFLD Radio, Tri-Cities, WA)

https://newstalk870.am/group-seeks-to-save-horse-heaven-ridges-from-wind-project/

CONSERVATION & EFFICIENCY

20.   Biden Energy Dept Orders Sweeping Review of Trump Energy Rules (The Hill, Washington, DC)

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/539651-biden-energy-dept-orders-sweeping-review-of-trump

FISH & WILDLIFE

21.   Warming Seas Could Wipe Out Snake River Chinook by 2060, Scientists Predict (Phys.Org)

https://phys.org/news/2021-02-seas-snake-river-chinook-scientists.html

22.   Climate Change Threatens Chinook Salmon throughout Their Life Cycle (Nature Research Journal)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01734-w

23.   Seattle’s Skagit River Dams Hurt Salmon, Orcas & Native American Culture, Agencies Say (KING-TV, Seattle, WA)

https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/seattles-skagit-river-dams-hurt-salmon-orcas-and-native-american-culture-agencies-say/281-d4e483c2-1178-4af1-b8db-634e3b4009f7

24.   Herring Catch Quota in British Columbia’s Georgia Strait Will Ensure Health of Species (Victoria Times-Colonist, BC)

https://www.timescolonist.com/herring-catch-quota-in-b-c-s-georgia-strait-will-ensure-health-of-species-dfo-1.24284416

25.   Another Calf Born to Endangered Northwest Salish Sea Orcas (Associated Press)

https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2021/02/18/another-calf-born-endangered-northwest-salish-sea-orcas/6798399002/

WATER, WATER, ANYWHERE?

26.   Climate Change Will Exacerbate Flooding in Columbia River Basin, OSU Study Finds (Columbia Insight)

https://columbiainsight.org/climate-change-will-exacerbate-flooding/

27.   A Dam Good Example of Collaboration on California Water Issues (Grist Online)

https://grist.org/article/a-klamath-dam-good-example-of-collaboration-on-california-water-issues/

28.   WA State: Skagit PUD Moving Ahead on $35.5 Million Infrastructure Project (Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon, WA)

https://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/skagit-pud-moving-ahead-on-35-5-milion-infrastructure-project/article_858626ca-1669-575a-846d-5732bdc625b1.html

29.   Colorado River Study Means It’s Time to Cut Water Use Now, Outside Experts Say (Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, AZ)

https://tucson.com/news/local/colorado-river-study-means-its-time-to-cut-water-use-now-outside-experts-say/article_20dafb95-3d43-5a8d-85ff-92c76708145b.html

CLIMATE CHANGE SEQUESTRATION VAULT

30.   Oregon Climate Program Draws Fire for Leaving Out Natural Gas Power Plants (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/02/18/oregon-climate-program-department-environmental-quality-natural-gas/

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

31.   U.S. House Republicans Propose Nationwide Ban on Municipal Broadband Networks (Ars Technica)

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/02/gop-plan-for-broadband-competition-would-ban-city-run-networks-across-us/

32.   WA State: Grant PUD Expands Fiber Optic Network throughout County (KPQ-Radio, Wenatchee, WA)

https://www.kpq.com/grant-pud-expands-fiber-optic-network-throughout-county/

33.   AT&T Scrambles to Install Fiber For 90-Year-Old after His Viral Wall Street Journal Ad (Ars Technica)

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/02/90-year-old-gets-att-300mbps-fiber-a-week-after-complaining-in-wsj-print-ad/

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY

34.   WA State: Hack of Seattle Payments Processing Firm Puts Local Governments & Utilities on Alert (Seattle Times, WA – Paywall Advisory)

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/hack-of-seattle-payments-processing-firm-puts-local-governments-on-alert/

GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT

35.   ‘That Rhythm Is Gone’: Washington State Legislators on the Pros & Cons of Virtual Government (GeekWire)

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/virtual-legislature/

ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWER – DIVERSIONS

Today (February 22) is National Margarita Day

https://www.thereisadayforthat.com/holidays/usa/national-margarita-day

Alaska Woman Using Outhouse Attacked by Bear, from Below

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-woman-outhouse-bear-attack-61a23fa15190c00e17a07bc152f9dabb

With No Crowds, Louvre Gets Rare Chance to Refurbish

https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-museums-paris-coronavirus-pandemic-ecf74e80d293b4b3c2cfe6ec6de089c7

Entire School Board Resigns after Trash-Talking Parents in Hot Mic Moment

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oakley-union-school-boards-resigns_n_6032526cc5b673b19b6919c1

SONG OF THE DAY

The Tremeloes - Silence Is Golden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcBJaQeYds8

LINKS & PAYWALL ADVISORY

Links in The Energy News Digest lead to current stories. Media organizations update their websites regularly, which may result in broken links. Media attribution includes information about possible paywall restrictions.

Oregon's Clean Energy Sector Took a 6,000-Job Hit in 2020 (Portland Business Journal, OR)

(PORTLAND, OR) - - Oregon’s clean energy industry expected to gain 2,831 jobs in 2020, but instead lost 6,055, according to advocates for policies that support the sector.

It’s been digging out of a hole since losing around 9,500 jobs from March through May last year, when the pandemic hit, a report from Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2, and Oregon Business for Climate says.

Clean energy employment was at 50,562 at the end of 2020, down from 56,617 at the beginning of the year.

“At the current rate of recovery over the final six months of 2020, it would take more than two years for Oregon to reach its pre-COVID clean energy employment levels,” the report says.

The groups behind the report want to see various clean energy programs as part of federal stimulus and infrastructure investments. But they’re also calling for action at the state level.

Most clean energy jobs are in energy efficiency — HVAC and lighting principally. The category accounted for nearly 43,000 of the 56,000-plus clean energy jobs in the state at the end of 2019.

Advocates argue that with support, the sector can deliver an economic boost while also addressing climate-change resiliency and mitigation.

In Oregon, the groups said they want to see “strong implementation” of Gov. Kate Brown’s March 2020 climate order, new regulations on diesel engine emissions along the lines of a step California took last year, and a 100% clean electricity bill.

Brown last year called for a range of actions to cap greenhouse gas emissions at 45% below 1990 levels by 2035 and at least 80% below those levels by 2050. The Department of Environmental Quality has assembled a rule-making advisory committee to implement the Climate Protection Program.

DEQ is also in the beginning stages of diesel engine emissions rulemaking.

A broad range of advocates have promised to push for a 100% clean energy bill in the current legislative session. One bill already introduced would require meeting the standard by 2035 with sources of electricity that don’t use petroleum, natural gas, or coal.