New education effort touts hydropower benefits

The region’s communities are celebrating the benefits that hydropower has brought to the Pacific Northwest by launching a new education campaign.

“The intent of ‘Hydropower Flows Here’ is to share information about the various attributes of this renewable, clean, reliable source of electricity that powers nearly 60 percent of Northwest homes and businesses,” said Dan James, Bonneville Power Administration’s deputy administrator.

The rivers of the Northwest are not only icons of the region’s natural beauty, but also provide a constant supply of energy. Hydroelectric dams in the Northwest produce more electricity than any other North American river system. And hydropower accounts for almost 90 percent of renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest.

“We want to remind residents that the next time you turn on the light switch, make a pot of coffee or charge your electric vehicle, ‘Hydropower Flows Here,'” said James.

Hydropower has been the backbone to the region’s clean energy economy for 80 years. And it is helping us move into a modern era of energy consumption. Because of its inherent flexibility, hydropower has helped integrate newer renewable energy resources — such as wind power — into the grid, while ensuring the reliability of the power system through all weather conditions.

“Clean and reliable hydropower is a big part of where we live,” said Scott Corwin, executive director of the Public Power Council. “It is good to see BPA educating on this important regional resource.”

Several utility customer representatives in the Northwest have also signed on to be proponents of this hydropower effort, including Northwest Requirement Utilities, Northwest RiverPartners, Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, PNGC Power, Public Power Council and Washington Public Utility District Association, as well as dozens of utilities across four states.

Supporters of Hydropower Flows Here will be sharing facts and images via social media and events throughout the region. Here’s what some of those utilities from around the Northwest have to say about it:

Libby Calnon, Community and Public Relations supervisor at Columbia River PUD: “About 85 percent of the energy we deliver to customers comes from hydropower. It is affordable, renewable, and carbon-free energy. This makes hydropower an incredibly important resource for CRPUD, and for the Pacific Northwest region. We’re lucky to have such a flexible, green resource here. Through this campaign, we look forward to celebrating this northwest gem with our customers.”

Mark Johnson, general manager of Flathead Electric Cooperative in Montana: “We like to think of dams as giant batteries — highly efficient energy storage systems that harness energy from one of our most abundant natural resources. Our members benefit from the reliability and affordability of the hydropower system and, perhaps what our members appreciate most, is that we get all of this with virtually no carbon footprint.”

Debbie Bone-Harris, senior manager of Public Affairs at Franklin PUD: “Franklin PUD, along with other local utilities including Benton PUD and Richland Energy Services, support the Hydropower Flows Here campaign, created by BPA. The economy and quality of life in the Pacific Northwest is heavily dependent on our dams and the rivers that flow through our region. Our residents depend on the agriculture, irrigation, transportation and recreation of this river system that produces clean, renewable energy, while we remain good environmental stewards of these resources.”

Learn more about Pacific Northwest hydropower at http://www.bpa.gov/hydroflowshere