Take Action to Secure a Clean and Reliable Energy Future for the Northwest

Please Prioritize Renewable Sources, Energy Efficiency, and Salmon Recovery

Dear Northwest Power and Conservation Council staff, I am writing to share my views on the Ninth Power Plan, that will drive energy acquisition for the next five years and shape how our region meets its electricity needs over the next twenty years. I am a ratepayer and I care deeply about keeping electricity affordable, addressing climate change, providing for salmon, and making sure the costs of our growing energy needs are shared fairly. First, I strongly support the Council's plans to build more wind, solar, and battery storage. This is exactly the direction we should be heading, and I hope the final plan is as ambitious as possible on clean energy. It's encouraging to see that renewables are central to every scenario the Council has modeled. I have several concerns I hope the Council will take seriously. Data centers should pay their fair share and help with grid flexibility. A significant portion of our region's projected electricity growth is coming from large data centers. Before we build expensive new infrastructure to meet their demand, I believe data centers should be required to do their part to reduce strain on the grid, whether by scaling back operations during emergencies, or by making their own backup generators available to the grid when things get tight. If a company wants to consume power at that scale, flexibility should be a condition of doing business here. We should invest more in efficiency and demand response to assure we are getting maximum benefit from existing and new resources. Demand response programs pay homes and businesses to temporarily reduce electricity use during periods of high demand. This is a much cheaper way to keep the lights on than building a new power plant that sits mostly idle. I'm concerned that the current plan doesn't invest in and utilize these tools as much as it should. I support stronger, more ambitious targets for both energy efficiency and demand response in the final plan. I'm concerned about too much new natural gas. I understand both options the Council is considering include thousands of megawatts of new gas plants. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change, and Washington and Oregon have made clear commitments to phase it out. I'm also concerned that the true cost of building new gas plants may be higher than what the current models show, which means we could be locking ourselves into expensive, polluting infrastructure based on old numbers. I'd like to see the Council take a harder look at whether demand response and energy efficiency could fill that gap instead. Please keep the plan regional. I understand there's a proposal to set different conservation goals for the western and eastern parts of the region. I hope the Council will keep a single, unified regional target. Our grid is interconnected, and a strong commitment to energy efficiency everywhere benefits all of us. Finally, please don't forget about salmon and steelhead. The Columbia and Snake Rivers are the lifeblood of our region, and their fish populations are struggling. I know the Council has a responsibility both to manage our energy future and to protect fish and wildlife. A plan that reduces our dependence on the hydro-system and invests in efficiency, demand response, and clean energy is also a plan that gives us more flexibility to manage our dams in ways that help salmon survive and recover. I hope that connection stays front and center as the final plan comes together. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.