FEBRUARY 2008: AROUND THE STATE
BPA delivers a
megawatt milestone
PORTLAND
The Bonneville Power Administration in January said it
delivered to customers more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power
for the first time. While BPA called the moment a milestone in
the effort to include more clean energy in its power supply, it
is more symbolic, says energy expert Jeff Hammarlund.
“We are not the Saudi Arabia of wind,” says
Hammarlund, president of the Northwest Energy and Environmental
Strategies consulting firm and adjunct professor at Portland
State University. “The potential in the Gorge alone is
not that significant. However, our neighboring state of Montana
does offer a huge opportunity for wind.” BPA is a
nonprofit federal electric utility that harnesses the power of
the Columbia River.
Still, Hammarlund says the milestone is significant because
BPA has been a leader in wind development and in integrating it
into its system. To date, BPA has connected 13 wind projects
into the region’s transmission grid.
“There’s been virtually no leadership in the
federal government [on renewables], so it’s come down to
leadership by the utilities, state and local governments, the
environmental community, and the wind developers
themselves,” says Hammarlund.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council hopes for 5,000
megawatts of new wind power in the next few decades.
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