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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (50820)	5/7/2014 12:01:00 AM
From: Bilow	2 Recommendations Recommended By Brumar89 Hawkmoon Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86356

Hi Eric; Re: "With the cheapest hydropower in the country it just makes sense to get rid of the towplane!" Yes the electricity is cheap but I wouldn't be so certain that it's hydropower. Your hydropower is sold as far south as northern Mexico while you import fossil fuel electricity made in Montana: Electricity Washington is the leading producer of hydroelectric power, routinely contributing more than one-fourth of the nation's total net hydroelectric generation. Ten of the state's 12 largest power plants are hydroelectric facilities, primarily on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Like many of the rest of the nation's hydroelectric power facilities, the largest in Washington are, at over 60 years of age, among the oldest generating facilities in the nation. Federal entities built and continue to own or operate the largest hydroelectric facilities in Washington. The Bonneville Power Administration, one of four federal power marketing administrations, is the marketer of all electricity produced at federal dams in the Pacific Northwest. Hydroelectric power accounts for about three-fourths of Washington's electricity generation and dominates the state's electricity market providing abundant and relatively inexpensive electricity. A nuclear power plant, wind turbines, natural gas-fired power plants, a single coal-fired power plant, and, to a lesser extent, biomass, account for Washington's remaining generation. Wind generation is almost equally divided between electric utilities and independent power producers, while most of the natural gas-fired electricity generation is produced by electric utilities. These plants burn over four times as much natural gas as the plants operated by independent power producers. Washington's one large coal-fired power plant is located in Centralia. The plant generates enough electricity each year to supply a city about the size of Seattle. The site's two coal-fired units are scheduled to be decommissioned by 2025. The state's only nuclear plant, the Columbia Generating Station, is located near the Columbia River in the south-central part of the state on the U. S. Department of Energy's Hanford site. Net electricity generation exceeds retail electricity sales in Washington. The state is a major exporter of electricity to the Canadian power grid and also supplies U.S. markets as far away as California. The state transmits large amounts of cheaply produced hydroelectric power via the Western Interconnection, which runs from British Columbia and Alberta, Canada through Washington and Oregon to southern California and the northern part of Baja California, Mexico. The entire system covers all or part of 16 states. Because of the relatively low operating costs of hydroelectric power generation, Washington's retail electricity costs are among the lowest in the nation. Approximately one-half of all Washington households are heated with electricity. eia.gov Why Oregon imports power from fossil fuels and exports renewable energy We hear a lot about new renewable energy projects in Oregon: geothermal, solar and wind projects galore. And that’s on top of hydropower – a renewable staple in the Northwest’s power supply. But there’s a big difference between renewable energy production in Oregon and consumption. Rachel Shimshak, executive director of Renewable Northwest Project says renewable energy incentives have positioned Oregon well to attract new developments – especially wind projects. But less than a quarter of the 5,000 megawatts of wind power generated in Oregon is actually used here. Where is all that wind energy going? And what are we using instead? According to Ken Dragoon, senior resource analyst with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, 30 to 40 percent of that wind energy goes to California to meet renewable energy mandates down there. Meanwhile, nearly 40 percent of Oregon’s electricity consumption comes from coal-fired power plants – many of which are in Wyoming and Montana. About 15 percent of the state’s power comes from natural gas. With all the hydropower and renewable energy development in Oregon, Shimshak said, “it’s probably a surprise to most people that more than 45 percent of our electricity comes from fossil fuels.” opb.org -- Carl P.S. It's one world and you don't really know where your electricity comes from or where it goes. Any power you waste in your hobby is unavailable for export to California and so they burn that much more fossil fuels to replace it.