December 5, 2001—In a recent report from The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, Avista Utilities warned it energy customers in Washington and Oregon that hundreds of megawatts of electricity could become bottlenecked this winter due to insufficient transmission lines.
As a solution, the company proposes to reinforce its system and, if necessary, reduce the output at the Noxon Rapids Dam to maintain a balance between generation and transmission. However, the Bonneville Power Administration, which sells about 40 percent of all electricity consumed in the Northwest and whose transmission lines carry almost 75 percent of all the region’s power, suggests that a better solution would be to add a “beefed up” line to its own grid between Spokane and the Grand Coulee Dam in central Washington.
Avista says Bonneville’s option would be too expensive—$250 million, compared to $120 million to reinforce its own grid. However, Bonneville argues that its option would in fact cost about $100 million.
For more information, contact Avista or the Bonneville Power Administration.
Based on a report from The Spokesman-Review.
