A Court Decision You Should Know About
Some of you may have been following the news about a federal lawsuit over water management on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Others may be hearing about it for the first time today. Either way, we want you to hear it directly from us.
On Feb. 25, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon ordered federal dam operators to significantly increase the amount of water spilled over Columbia and Snake River dams to improve conditions for endangered salmon and steelhead. The case was brought by a coalition of environmental groups and state governments, including the state of Oregon, whose governor’s office was a lead plaintiff and actively sought these operational changes.
The logic is straightforward: More water over the spillways means better conditions for fish passage. But water that spills over a dam doesn’t pass through the turbines. Water that doesn’t pass through turbines doesn’t generate electricity, and the cost of that lost generation falls on utilities like ours and ultimately on you.
That lost generation adds up. To replace that power, Bonneville Power Administration, our wholesale electricity supplier, must buy it on the open market. Market power is almost always more expensive than what the federal hydro system can generate itself. BPA estimates this will cost roughly $100 million a year, and it is pursuing an expedited rate proceeding to recover those costs beginning as early as October.
For Northern Wasco County PUD, the preliminary estimate is an additional 2% to 3% pressure on retail rates. This was not part of our budget planning last year. Depending on how the proceedings unfold, we may need to adjust rates to account for the impact.
It is worth noting that these are cost estimates, not final numbers. BPA won’t finalize its numbers until later this year, and then we have our own budget and rate process to work through. We won’t have all the answers until the process unfolds, but you will hear from us when we do.
We are actively engaged in BPA’s rate proceeding, alongside regional public power partners, because our customer-owners deserve to have someone at the table fighting for their interests. We will keep you informed as the process moves forward and the numbers become clear.
We also recognize the importance of salmon recovery to this region—that is not a value we take lightly. But a court-ordered operational change of this magnitude deserves a solution developed at the table, not imposed through litigation. We hope to see all parties, including environmental advocates, federal agencies, fishing communities, and the millions of Pacific Northwest families and businesses who depend on affordable, reliable hydropower, work together toward an outcome that serves both the river and the region.
You have our commitment that as this develops, our board of directors will do what it has always done—carefully weigh every decision against the real impact it has on the people and businesses we serve. That is what it means to be your community-owned utility.
Roger Kline
General Manager and CEO