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Workgroup Gets Busy on BPA Non-Wire Options
The Bonneville Power Administration's two-year effort to explore alternatives to expensive transmission projects was officially launched in late January with the first meeting of a public workgroup. The non-wires alternatives roundtable includes representatives from all four Northwest states, utilities, public interest groups, tribes. Its goal is to find the least expensive and most reliable solutions to transmission constraints.
The urgency of this project has been heightened by the 2000-01 energy crisis and a stressed system that has not been expanded since 1987. The cost savings from non-wire alternatives could be significant: BPA has identified 20 transmission projects – carrying a price tag of almost $1.5 billion – needed to shore up its grid.
BPA's willingness to examine a range of non-wire technologies is a precedent-setting decision in the transmission industry. Utilities have traditionally balked at alternatives to wires, considering conservation programs and re-routing technology impractical.
One of the group's first challenges is to evaluate alternatives to the Kangley-Echo Lake transmission line, which would run through the Washington's Cedar River watershed – the source of Seattle's drinking water. Though a non-wires alternative doesn't appear feasible, the debate on alternative routes and environmental mitigation will continue.
The workgroup will also evaluate BPA's project to relieve grid congestion between Olympia and the Olympic Peninsula. Through a pilot demand reduction program, BPA hopes that it can avoid expensive upgrades. The pilot program will help BPA determine how much it will cost to get customers to reduce or shift load, how long they will participate, and how much the measures delay transmission investments.
— Nancy Hirsh