Region at the Crossroads

The Pacific Northwest region has entered a difficult transition period. Most large hydropower sites in the region have been developed, and additional large supplies of inexpensive hydroelectric power, long the mainstay of regional electric supply, are not available. Remaining damsites are less desirable and often involve substantial detriment in terms of environmental and recreational effect. The federal government, primarily through the Department of Energy's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), plays a major role in energy management for the region.

Intraregional conflicts over access to federal hydropower and federal financial assistance have obscured the need for an updated approach to managing the region's electrical resources. It appears that congressional action will be needed to recharter BPA and to resolve the conflicts which now deadlock regional planning and decisionmaking. More information is needed before the federal government makes any firm commitments to guarantee the financing of new thermal power plants. Representative citizen involvement in planning and policymaking is essential to development of an acceptable electricity management program. Although long-range energy demand forecasts are critical to planning and policy analysis, they are too inconsistent at present. Pricing electrical energy at true replacement cost would result in greater consumer awareness and voluntary conservation. Arguments that higher energy prices will lead to economic disaster are not supported by the facts.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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