<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Saturday,  November 2 , 2024

Linkedin Pinterest
News / Business / Clark County Business

Electricity equilibrium? Finding power for the Pacific Northwest in the future ‘will be a significant challenge’

Demand grows just as Washington and Oregon's environmental regulations reduce fossil fuel options and put more pressure on green tech

By Sarah Wolf, Columbian staff writer
Published: October 26, 2024, 6:14am
success iconThis article is available exclusively to subscribers like you.
3 Photos
System dispatchers monitor the grid at the Bonneville Power Administration&rsquo;s Ross Complex. Growing demand for power in the region and state mandates requiring carbon-free energy in the future complicate the administration&rsquo;s work. The administration can&rsquo;t guarantee a carbon-free product. Utilities across the region may need to find their own energy sources in the future to make up the difference.
System dispatchers monitor the grid at the Bonneville Power Administration’s Ross Complex. Growing demand for power in the region and state mandates requiring carbon-free energy in the future complicate the administration’s work. The administration can’t guarantee a carbon-free product. Utilities across the region may need to find their own energy sources in the future to make up the difference. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

From their control center at the Ross Complex in Vancouver, Bonneville Power Administration dispatchers manage the region’s electricity supply and demand in real time.

It’s a delicate balance, especially as demand for power in the Pacific Northwest is poised to skyrocket. A 2024 forecast from the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee predicts electricity demand will grow more than 30 percent in the next decade and “finding enough power in the future will be a significant challenge.

Thank you for reading The Columbian.

Subscribe now to get unlimited access.

Already a subscriber? Sign in right arrow icon
Loading...