Category – Energy

At its April meeting in Portland, the Council set the thresholds for its resource adequacy metrics, which are intended to protect the Pacific Northwest's power system from outages that are too frequent, too large, or too long in duration.

When you need to see in the dark, which will illuminate the terrain better – a flashlight or an aerial flare? This spring, Council Power Division staff will be using the latter approach to produce new 20-year load forecasts for the future of the Pacific Northwest’s power system.

At March’s Council meeting, Power Division staff led presentations about the estimated costs and timelines to develop for generating resources, and the first portion of energy efficiency potential for the Ninth Power Plan.

At February’s Council meeting, Power Planning Director Jennifer Light explained how staff are approaching their analysis for developing the Ninth Northwest Power Plan. This included key scenarios, points of uncertainty, as well as modeling assumptions, and a preview of how it will unfold in 2025 and 2026.

At January’s Council meeting, senior BPA officials presented the results of their 2024 Resource Program, a planning exercise to assess what conservation and generation resources BPA may need to add in the near future, as well as early thinking for the agency’s 2026 Resource Program.

At January’s meeting, Power Director Jennifer Light and General Counsel John Shurts provided the Council with a roadmap to the upcoming process to developing the Ninth Northwest Power Plan and the major steps required by the Northwest Power Act.

Power Division staff are currently working on an updated load forecast for the Northwest power system – including data centers, chip fabrication facilities, and the tech sector – and expect to have it ready by spring 2025. At its December meeting, the Council convened a panel of experts to discuss the energy needs of data centers, including what potential they may or may not have to be efficient and flexible.

Power Division Director Jennifer Light recently sat down with Olympia-based public affairs network TVW to discuss the Council’s role in regional power planning as Washington state navigates decarbonization changes while ensuring the Pacific Northwest’s power system stays adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable. The episode is now airing.

During the Council’s November meeting, representatives from Bonneville Power Administration reported making progress on acquiring target amounts of cost-effective energy efficiency by 2027.

During its November meeting in Portland, the Council heard briefings on new regional, West-wide, and national planning efforts underway that aim to get new transmission line projects built faster and help states and utilities meet upcoming clean energy goals in the 2030s and 2040s.