If your business was slated to lose nearly a billion dollars, would you stay the course?
A federal study projects that hydropower production at Willamette River Basin dams will lose a stunning $939 million over 30 years because the operating costs far outweigh the revenue.
The Public Power Council and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde may not agree on everything, but on this matter, we are aligned: It is time to change how we operate the Willamette Basin dams.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates eight hydropower-producing dams on the Santiam, McKenzie and Middle Fork Willamette subbasins. Built in the early 1940s, the primary purpose authorized by Congress was, and is, flood control. The corps also operates the dams to produce a small amount of electricity, despite the outrageous economics to do so.
The corps could alter how it operates these dams to boost the success rate for salmon migrating through these dams. Less than 3% of the once-great runs of Upper Willamette River Chinook remain. Federal scientists found that Chinook and steelhead – the only native salmonids that historically ascended the Willamette Falls in Oregon City – have a “very high likelihood” of extinction. The salmon are an essential part of the culture and lifeways of the Grand Ronde Tribe and critically important to Oregonians. We will not allow salmon to go extinct on our watch, especially to produce extremely expensive electricity.
Public Power Council and its nonprofit member utilities support hydro projects that power our communities with large quantities of clean power and provide effective and proven fish passage. However, the high and climbing cost of producing a small amount of power at the Willamette projects simply doesn’t pencil out. Removing the power function from these dams and utilizing them for flood control purposes and for optimized fish migration is the opportunity upon us.
For anyone who cares about salmon or their electricity bill, the best solution would be to stop producing power at these Willamette projects. The dams would stay in place, but the corps could lower the water level in the reservoirs to create more natural flow to help juvenile salmon complete their miraculous journeys out to the ocean. Moreover, low reservoirs are good for flood risk mitigation.
Congress has already asked the corps – twice – to study the impacts of removing the hydropower function from these Willamette dams. Now, Congress could direct the corps to stop wasting money on expensive electricity production and transition to operating the dams to reduce flood risk while boosting salmon survival. We believe this is a win-win for salmon and ratepayers.
by Kathleen George & Scott Simms, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Kathleen George is tribal councilwoman of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. She was previously director of the Grand Ronde’s philanthropic arm and has spent her career helping tribal governments accomplish their goals and build their future.
Scott Simms has been the CEO and executive director of the Public Power Council since 2019. The council is a membership organization representing consumer-owned utilities that primarily focuses on the Federal Columbia River Power System and Bonneville Power Administration ratemaking, revenue requirements and policies. Before joining the council, Simms spent 13 years at Bonneville Power Administration, most recently as communications director.
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