Supplies of energy in the Northwest remain on the “razor’s edge” through the winter, according to numbers recently released by the Northwest Power Pool, which serves utilities in the Northwestern United States and Canada.
Based on aggregate numbers submitted to the Power Pool from throughout the Northwest, electrical energy supplies for February 2001 are just a fraction of a percent short of the region’s firm obligations to supply energy (known as load). For March 2001, there is little improvement, with the numbers showing a fraction of a percent more energy than load.
These figures assume normal weather conditions and a 15-percent unplanned generation outage rate. A major concern for regional energy planners is drought. If dry conditions continue, this would be among the five lowest water years the Northwest has experienced since record keeping began.
The Power Pool began collecting and analyzing load-resource figures early this year as part of the support it provides to the Energy Response Team (formerly Emergency Response Team) set up by Northwest states, utilities, and independent generators to provide warnings of potential energy emergencies and to monitor emerging conditions.
For more information, read the full report in PDF format at the Power Pool’s Web site.
