News Articles

March 24, 2025
By Emily Senkosky

Time is running out to save Pacific Northwest wild salmon and steelhead, but studies conducted by tribes and the states of Washington and Oregon are providing data needed to preserve them and the ecosystems and economies that depend on them.

In February 2024, a joint agreement between Pacific Northwest tribes and the Biden administration commenced a new approach to recovering salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. Parties agreed to consider breaching the four lower Snake River Dams, which have long been contentious for their part in decimating fish populations. To remove the dams, which provide energy, irrigation and transportation routes, data on the feasibility of replacing their infrastructure was needed.

The Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation conducted the first study, which showed that the removal of the lower Snake River Dams would not affect the river's capacity to supply water for irrigation or for municipal and industrial purposes.

By providing three options for service replacement, the research was meant to give the public and decision makers baseline data that could inform future actions – with water service replacement estimated to cost between $1.7 and $3.5 billion. According to Kayeloni Scott, executive director of the Columbia and Snake River Campaign, the studies were geared at finding out if dam removal was even possible.

“These pieces of information are critical for moving forward,” said Scott. “The studies were meant to find out what would need to be replaced, what actions would need to be taken, and what it would cost.”

Regarding energy replacement, several studies have indicated that energy needs in the Pacific Northwest are projected to nearly double by 2050. The lower Snake River Dams are “run of the river” dams, meaning they are entirely dependent on snowpack and its rate of runoff. This type of energy generation makes them relatively unreliable compared to some other dams in the federal Columbia River system – especially in recent years with decreasing snowpack.

While the Snake River Dams have a collective generating capacity of 3,033 megawatts, their average yearly output is around a third of that at around 1,075 average megawatts. According to actual generation data from 2010-2015, the average output for the dams was even lower, at 930 megawatts of power per year.

“The lower Snake River dams are outdated structures that will require significant funding to update and maintain. We have an opportunity to invest in the region through options that not only consider the needs of salmon, but also stakeholders,” said Scott.

The second study by the Washington State Department of Transportation is multi-phased and aimed at evaluating the transportation impacts of dam removal. The first phase gathered data on current freight volumes and transportation networks to develop a predictive model for future movement and transport needs. A second phase, that began in 2025, will analyze safety and broader impacts, incorporating input from technical and community advisory committees.

The ongoing research aims to fill critical knowledge gaps left by previous federal reports, ensuring policymakers can address the logistical challenges that could come up without the Snake River Dams in place.

Sustaining salmon

For decades, the return of salmon and steelhead to the Snake River Basin has been shifting away from wild-origin and to a great extent to hatchery-origin fish. According to Jay Hesse, fish biologist for the Nez Perce Tribe, over half of the native populations of spring and summer Chinook salmon are now gone. The 32 native populations remaining are in dire condition and listed as an endangered species. Replenishing these fish to the federal standard established by the Endangered Species Act is a much lower bar than getting the fish back to a “healthy and harvestable” status.

“The (federal) regulations are a floor for fish performance within the hydro system,” said Hesse.

The new NOAA report, in combination with efforts by Columbia Basin tribes and state fish managers, is helping to communicate how well fish populations, or stocks, are doing and what types of changes are needed for their protection. If a salmon or steelhead population has had 50 or fewer wild fish on an annual basis for four consecutive years, they have reached what is known as a Quasi Extinction Threshold, which is an indicator that the stock is headed toward extinction.

“We are in dire straits. Nearly half of the spring and summer Chinook populations are at the (threshold) level,” said Hesse.

Metrics showed that 1.9 million salmon passed through the Bonneville Dam in 2024, as compared to historical estimates of 8-16 million. According to Hesse, achieving healthy and abundant management goals will require discourse that considers fish biology, environmental habitat, and human behavior.

“For Snake Basin stocks, the heart of the resolution is to breach the four lower Snake River dams while taking care of the communities and services that those dams provide,” said Hesse.

Powering progress

The new studies are helping to move toward tangible outcomes, but spending freezes and job removals are directly affecting tribes’ commitments as set forth in the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement – a manifesto based on the priorities outlined in the joint agreement with the Biden administration.

Despite these challenges, the new studies will help lay the groundwork for a path forward. Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement advocates are taking a grassroots approach by participating in town hall meetings and prioritizing direct engagement with stakeholders to hear the concerns of potentially impacted communities. According to Scott, people have been mostly receptive and positive, with their main concerns being for agriculture and reliable, affordable energy.

All of this work has led to an updated environmental impact statement that incorporates new information and circumstances into the 2020 environmental impact statement of the dams. Public meetings for this supplementary statement are scheduled for the week of April 7th, and a public comment period is open now through May 9th. For tribes of the Columbia River Basin, this progress has been a long time coming and is something that could have profound ripples.

“It’s deeper than salmon going extinct,” said Scott. “For tribal members, the survival of the species is the survival of our way of life.”

ICT: New studies may lead to removal of Snake River dams

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By Pete Danko – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal
Mar 7, 2025

Bonneville Power Administration intends to join the new energy market Markets+, the federal agency said Thursday, a decision with potentially significant energy cost and reliability ramifications that has divided utilities and other industry stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest.

The draft decision by the region's biggest power player was in line with a policy direction laid out nearly a year ago. Yet it came amid rising pressure to hold off on a commitment, if not opt for a rival market supported by Oregon's two largest utilities, Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, and many renewable energy and climate advocates.

Oregon's and Washington's U.S. senators had joined in calls for BPA to delay action.

"This hasty draft decision by the BPA is not good news for electricity consumers in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday in an emailed statement.

BPA's release of a two-page cover letter and 93-page draft policy paper opened a 30-day comment period ahead of a planned final policy declaration in May.

"This draft policy is consistent with Bonneville's strategic goals, day-ahead market evaluation principles, and the Trump Administration's energy directives," John Hairston, BPA's administration and CEO, said in the letter.

For nearly two years, utilities and other electricity providers throughout the West have been weighing two "day-ahead" energy market proposals: Markets+ from the Southwest Power Pool based in Arksansas, and the Extended Day-Ahead Market, or EDAM, that California's grid operator is developing.

Each has promised efficient and robust energy trading that could help in addressing the challenges of grid congestion, reliability in the face of extreme weather events, rising rates and demand, and decarbonization.

"As the region evolves, this draft policy reflects BPA's best opportunity to remain competitively positioned in the long-term to continue meeting firm power sales obligations and marketing surplus to maintain low rates for customers," Rachel Dibble, BPA Power Services vice president of bulk marketing, said in a written statement.

BPA's direction is key not only because it sells power from 31 federal dams and a nuclear plant, but it owns and manages 75% of the region's high-voltage transmission system.

Its tilt toward the Markets+ has been widely — though not unanimously — supported by consumer-owned utilities, who have first dibs on its relatively inexpensive hydropower. A key factor in their preference has been concern that EDAM's governance structure would give California politicians undue influence, putting BPA's market standing at risk.

The agency has stood by its position through two new rounds of analysis that found that an EDAM with BPA in it would deliver greater economic benefits to BPA and the region, possibly amounting to as much as $4.4 billion over the next decade.

EDAM advocates had called on BPA to hold off on a decision while California lawmakers consider legislation that could solve the governance issue. BPA's precarious staffing situation in the wake of Trump administration actions brought new urgency to their calls.

'Tumult inflicted by Donald Trump and Elon Musk'

"The needless tumult inflicted on BPA by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, along with the uncertain outcome of potential changes to the California Independent System Operator add up to serious questions BPA must answer with transparency before issuing its final market decision," Wyden, the Oregon Democrat, said. "Foremost in that decision come May is the need for an electricity market that serves everyone in the Pacific Northwest and keeps reliability and electricity prices at the forefront."

BPA officials, in a news conference Thursday afternoon, said they had waited years for changes to the California system operator's governance and didn't want to be forced into a corner as other utilities made market choices.

"The longer BPA waits, the more the opportunity to chart our own course closes," Dibble said.

She also emphasized the governance advantages the agency sees in Markets+.

"Those are qualitative elements that we hold as very high priorities," Dibble said. "We do believe in the long run they will result in positive, quantitative benefits ... because we will have a seat at the table and be able to work, to collaborate, with partners on those future design elements."

The Public Power Council, which represents consumer-owned utilities, encouraged utilities to rally around the BPA decision and Markets+.

"With many utilities across the Northwest and Southwest already supporting Markets+, this decision signals even greater momentum toward a broad and well-structured market that delivers reliability and cost benefits," Scott Simms, the group's CEO and executive director, said via email. "We encourage additional utilities to consider joining this effort to further enhance regional coordination and market efficiencies."

Many energy players, though, see EDAM — bringing in the massive California energy market — as the only possibility for achieving the broadest and most beneficial market footprint. They warned that a split decision in the region would introduce new costs and reliability risks by introducing "seams" into transmission operations that would have to be overcome.

PGE, PacifiCorp positions

"Maintaining reliability is already challenging in some circumstances, even as we've operated under the same rules," Larry Bekkedahl, a PGE senior vice president, said via email. "BPA's decision may adversely impact all customers in the PNW, including PGE's."

PGE highlighted that EDAM builds on the California grid operator's long-standing real-time market that brings in almost all of the West, including BPA, while Markets+ is starting from the ground up.

PGE had joined with PacifiCorp and Seattle City Light, a municipally owned utility, in a letter earlier this week making the case for EDAM and urging Bonneville to hold off on a decision.

"This would allow BPA to explore mechanisms to better monetize its participation in (the existing real-time market), while continuing to lead on governance reform as it considers future day-ahead market opportunities," the utilities said. "Additionally, it would delay the creation of an unavoidable, not easily managed or reversible, seam and maintain the coordination in the West that is critical to keep the lights on and costs down."

Two groups that support the clean energy transition in the Pacific Northwest expressed disappointment at BPA's decision.

NW Energy Coalition said it puts "every power customer in the Northwest ... at risk for higher costs on their monthly bills." Renewable Northwest said "we believe it will have negative economic impacts on regional customers that have not been adequately addressed."

Both groups noted the BPA staffing challenges that have been in the headlines in recent weeks.

"While we disagree with this proposed decision, we continue to support BPA's employees' essential work to manage the power and resources entrusted to them by the American people, to protect our fish, wildlife and natural resources, and to keep the lights on," Nancy Hirsh, NW Energy Coalition's executive director, said in a statement.

Portland Business Journal: Bonneville Power Administration advances controversial energy market decision

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March 5, 2025
By Lynda Mapes

Heat domes. Cold snaps. Winter storms — even as far away as Texas: extreme weather events are roiling power markets and spiking power prices for energy providers and their customers.

This increasing volatility — and mandates to decarbonize energy supplies, introducing more variable energy sources, such as wind and solar power — is driving big changes for regional utilities, including how they buy and sell power.

In play right now is a new alignment of Northwest utilities into centralized, organized energy markets.

Two power market operators are contending for their business: the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+, based in Arkansas, and the California Independent System Operator. Both operators are seeking commitments from Northwest utilities.

This is a complex topic, so let’s step back to see what’s new.

Around the region, utilities buy and sell energy to meet customers’ needs, moving power around a connected power grid. That is not new.

What is changing is creation of these larger, centralized pools of utilities over a bigger geographic footprint, with an operator that optimizes trades not just minute to minute but for a whole day. That is intended to help utilities smooth challenges of variability in both weather and energy sources.

As these new market pools shape up, all eyes are on the Bonneville Power Administration.

A nonprofit federal administration, the BPA is self-funded by revenues from selling power and transmission services across 15,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. The juice comes from 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant, which produce about 32% of the power generated in the Northwest, sold wholesale to 142 retail customers — utilities large and small across 300,000 square miles in eight states.

Some get all their energy from BPA. Others, such as Seattle City Light, supplement their own generation with purchases from BPA. Typically, Seattle City Light gets 40% of its customers’ power from BPA — even more in low-water years, such as last year.

BPA has held multiple briefings, and workshops to help lead the process as the region remakes its energy market. BPA staff in a white paper last year recommended BPA jump in the pool operated by Markets+.

But with the players in the two power pools still shaping up, some powerful policymakers are urging BPA to pump the brakes.

Aligning with energy partners in the Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+ initiative is projected to be, under some scenarios, $79 to $129 million more costly in 2026 for Bonneville — and its ratepayers — compared to business as usual, according to a study commissioned by BPA. U.S. senators for the Northwest wrote in a letter to BPA Dec. 13 that there is no scenario evaluated in the study that demonstrated financial benefits in choosing the Markets+ alternative.

BPA counters that while initial costs in the first few years of Markets+ participation are more costly, those costs level out and BPA contends the long-term picture eventually is financially beneficial for customers.

But why eat extra cost? And why the hurry, the senators asked, and urged BPA to do nothing for now, and wait out changes expected in California law this session, that could put to rest concerns about governance of that market pool.

PacifiCorp, PGE, Seattle City Light and three major electrical worker unions in Portland, Tacoma and Seattle also urged BPA to change nothing for now a letter sent to BPA this week, urging BPA to avoid additional costs for customers already facing rate increases.

Heavy hitter customers that guzzle power, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Rivian, also in a public comment sent to BPA’s administrator stated Bonneville has not sufficiently taken into consideration the impact to ratepayers and any decision now is premature. A host of environmental groups and green energy advocates have also urged BPA to give this decision more time to more fully consider both economic and environmental impacts before making its move.

But with some area utilities already declaring their market preferences, BPA must make a decision, or will find itself isolated, with limited options, said Rachel Dibble, vice president for bulk power marketing at BPA. “We have to make a choice,” Dibble said. “Or everything will change around us and our options will be limited. Not to make a choice is a choice.”

Chelan, Grant County and Snohomish County PUDs and Tacoma Power have each already indicated a preference for Markets+. For Tacoma Power, the decision came down to reliability and independent governance, said Chris Robinson, general manager and chief operating officer for the utility.

Being hosted by a market run by a California entity didn’t seem like a good deal, Robinson said, and he didn’t want to wait on legislation in California to sort that out, either. “We have this opportunity right in front of us; we think it is important to move forward,” Robinson said.

But Dawn Lindell, general manager for Seattle City Light, isn’t feeling the Markets+ love. She said she is concerned about reliability and affordability for the utility’s customers.

“I want to know, do I have paths by which I can get the energy and send the energy, and is it what makes economic sense?” said Lindell. “We have 113,000 customers at or below 60% of average income, it matters a lot what we charge … I am looking for the least cost, most effective option.”

Weather events of the last four years compared with the previous 20 have gotten the utility’s attention, Lindell said, offering a graph that shows spikes in power prices on the market as jagged as the extreme temperatures that necessitated the power purchases.

“You can see climate change in the graph, it is very impactful over the last four years and every time we have a high (temperature) day or a low day, we have to go on the market and it is very expensive,” Lindell said.

“These weather events are driving the need for a very good and cost effective way of buying and selling energy.”

The larger storms wrought by climate change also make creation of a larger market into which to sell and from which to buy sensible — to escape weather patterns that spike prices. “Storms are stronger, last longer, and affect a much bigger land mass,” Lindell added.

“We need trading markets where the weather is different … I would love a ginormous footprint that covers a lot of ground, north and south, and we want as non-carbon emitting sources as we can find.”

BPA has announced it will make a preliminary decision on market choice March 6 and a final decision in May.

Seattle Times: Climate, energy upheavals roil Northwest power market

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Feb. 24, 2025 
By Lynda V. Mapes

Baby orca J62 is a female, scientists have confirmed, and looking great so far in her first month of life.

The birth of a healthy female calf is crucial for the southern resident orca families. With just 73 members, the pods need every female they can get to rebuild their numbers, noted Michael Weiss, research director for the Center for Whale Research.

“It’s especially great that we have a little female calf that appears to be healthy and normal. She appears to be filling out; we have no concerns about her,” Weiss said. In recent encounters, the baby was lively and social, “healthy and normal.”

For this population of whales, that is news. The southern residents have struggled to successfully reproduce, with the mothers losing as many as two-thirds of their calves. Scientists have linked the high rate of pregnancy failures to lack of adequate, quality food, especially Chinook salmon.

Mother orca Tahlequah, orca J35, shocked the world back in August 2018 by carrying her dead calf, which lived only 30 minutes, for 17 days and 1,000 miles. This Christmas, the region was delighted that Tahlequah gave birth again, only to be saddened by her once again carrying a calf that didn’t live to New Year’s.

It is not known how long Tahlequah carried the baby this time; she had been carrying the calf for at least 11 days when she and her family were seen in Haro Strait on Jan. 10 before heading out to sea. The southern residents in winter frequently travel the outer coast in search of food. J35 and her family were not seen again by scientists for weeks at a time. However on Feb. 8, she and her family returned to local waters, and she by then did not have the calf.

“That is to be expected,” Weiss said, as the carcass could not hold up that long no matter her efforts. J35 looked fine, he said. “She seemed to be doing well; she seemed herself. Her back looked nice and straight.”

She has two sons she continues to care for.

The southern residents are the only population of marine mammals in the Salish Sea struggling to survive. All the great whales — humpbacks and grays and the other populations of orcas are doing well, with their numbers increasing. The northern resident orcas, which like the southern residents are fish-eaters, also are growing in population.

But the southern residents are the most urban of the orcas and are plagued by at least three threats: lack of food, noisy waters that make it harder for them to hunt and contaminants in their food.

The Seattle Times: This baby orca is healthy and it’s a girl

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Orcas advocates got positive news this month, as the J pod's new calf was spotted in good health.

By Allison Sundell
February 17, 2025

SEATTLE — It’s official – it’s a girl!

The Center for Whale Research confirmed Sunday that the new orca calf in the J pod, J62, is female.

During a sighting on Feb. 8, researchers said J62 appeared to be “doing well” and is “filling out nicely.” J62 was seen “bouncing around” with the J19s while the pod appeared to be resting about three-quarters of a mile off the west side of San Juan Island.

Near the end of the sighting, researchers said the J19s were in a large group that was “getting social.” The calf rolled around, and researchers confirmed J62 is a girl based on photographs of her belly.

Researchers first confirmed J62’s birth on Jan. 1.

During the February sighting researchers also confirmed that orca J35 is no longer carrying the carcass of her dead calf, J61. The calf’s birth was confirmed in late December, and within a week, the calf died.

The mother, Tahlequah, gained national attention in 2018 for carrying her dead calf for more than 1,000 miles for at least 17 days.

J62’s good health is positive news for researchers as the Southern Resident killer whales’ population continues to struggle. The number of Southern Residents has reached its lowest level in decades, and advocates are racing to address factors contributing to their plight, including boat noise, which affects their ability to hunt; availability of Chinook salmon, their preferred prey; and pollutants in sea water.

Joe Olson, President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Cetacean Society, expressed enthusiasm about the new arrival.

"I am very excited that there is a female orca calf. J needs that really bad," he said.

The addition of J62 comes at a critical time for the Southern Resident orcas, whose population has dwindled to just 73 individuals. Howard Garrett, co-founder of Orca Network, explained the gravity of the situation.

“Optimum population should be at least 150, around 200 would be a robust population, so they are at a very low level and they are kind of plateauing,” Garrett said. "By far the main problem with these orcas' survival with reproductive success is nutrition, is having enough food. And their food, as they have specialized in for thousands of years, is primarily Chinook salmon, the big fatty chinook, and they are not so big anymore, and there are not very many of them."

Despite these challenges, the arrival of J62 has renewed hope for the pod's future. Conservation efforts are ongoing, with experts emphasizing the need for ecosystem restoration and reduced human impact.

Olson stressed, "The whales need our help. If we could leave them alone and restore the ecosystem so that there are abundant salmon and no pollution and not a bunch of noise, they would recover with no problem."

King 5: Welcome J62: A new female orca joins the Southern Resident family

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Lower Snake River Dams ©EcoFlight

By Jennifer Yachnin
02/07/2025 01:51 PM

The Trump administration is pushing back a review into how dams on the Columbia River system could be operated to benefit endangered salmon and steelhead population, extending a deadline set under the previous White House by nearly two months.

In a joint statement Thursday night, both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation announced a new May 9 deadline for a supplemental environmental impact statement focused on 14 dams on the waterway. Related public meetings are also being rescheduled to take place in April, instead of next week.

"This extension will allow additional time to receive vital public input and engagement on this important topic," the agencies said in the statement. The deadline had been in March. "USACE and Reclamation are committed to transparency and meaningful public participation, and both agencies are still available to discuss the SEIS and provide information related to this process."

The review, which began in late December under the Biden administration, was triggered by the "Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement," the name of the $1 billion settlement agreement reached in 2023 between the federal government and plaintiffs in a lawsuit centered on hydropower operations on the waterway.

The settlement paused the lawsuit for up to 10 years, while federal agencies and the Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs and Umatilla tribal nations, as well as the states of Oregon and Washington, study the impacts of breaching four of the dams and how to replace services like marine transportation, hydropower and irrigation services.

Although the settlement does not explicitly call for removing any dams, proponents have not shied away from admitting that their goal is to see four structures — the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite hydropower dams — breached.

That action, however, would require Congress' authorization, and GOP lawmakers who currently control both chambers and the White House have expressed opposition.

The Trump administration also opposed breaching those dams in the previous review of the Columbia River system, which was completed in 2020. That review found that the dams could spill more water to support endangered fish populations, instead of being removed.

E&E News: Trump admin extends environmental review of Columbia River dams

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