News
Up one levelEnergy Matters Update - Victory on Kalama!
After years of trying to sell its massively polluting proposed coal-powered plant as a clean power solution, Energy Northwest has finally thrown in the towel on the Pacific Mountain Energy Center (PMEC), the proposed 793-megawatt coal-powered facility in Kalama, Wash...
NW Energy Coalition is Now Hiring!
NW Energy Coalition is hiring for three new positions in Idaho, Montana and Washington state. Our Efficiency Works! campaign will show civic and business leaders that energy efficiency is the easiest, quickest and cheapest strategy for meeting regional energy needs and for cutting greenhouse gas emissions...
Coalition launches Efficiency Works! campaign
The NW Energy Coalition has secured major new foundation funding to launch an ambitious, region-wide energy efficiency campaign. The Efficiency Works! campaign will show civic and business leaders that energy efficiency is the easiest, quickest and cheapest strategy for meeting regional energy needs and for cutting greenhouse gas emissions...
The Transformer - Plug-in hybrids: A view from the grid
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are a step beyond traditional hybrid vehicles such as the emblematic Toyota Prius. Much of their fuel comes directly from the electric grid (rather than a gasoline engine), and thus their extensive employment has significant implications for the electric power system. This issue of The Transformer considers those implications...
New edition of The Energy Activist now available
Victories in the fight against coal, British Columbia's first of-its-kind carbon tax and the cross-country adventures of a giant fish named FIN are all featured in the newest edition of The Energy Activist.
Wind power costs on the rise? Not nearly as much as coal, gas and nukes
We keep hearing how the costs of new renewable power – especially wind power – are going up. Fact is, the cost of wind power is rising far less than costs for coal, natural gas or nuclear power. The current edition of Energy Matters Update delves deeper into this issue...
NW Energy Coalition gives highest honor to B.C.’s Carole Taylor
The Coalition has conferred its highest honor on B.C. Member of the Legislative Assembly and former finance minister Carole Taylor...
Oregon HEAT Wins Prestigious Award for Innovative Oil Donation Program
Coalition member Oregon HEAT has been awarded the Victorine Q. Adams Award by the National Fuel Fund Network at their annual meeting in Denver...
Fishermen, conservationists issue new legal challenge to Bush Administration's reckless salmon plan
A national coalition of commercial and sport fishermen, conservationists and clean energy and taxpayer advocates are challenging the latest Bush administration plan for continuing to operate federal dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers at the expense of wild salmon, calling it a slap in the face to fishermen, fishing families, and coastal communities...
The Transformer - Financiers cast critical eye on coal plant proposals
This February, a press release from four of the country’s largest financial institutions caught utilities’ attention. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Chase and Bank of America announced they had endorsed a set of carbon principles to be followed when evaluating loan applications to build or renovate coal-fired power plants. This issue of The Transformer briefly considers what the Carbon Principles will and won’t do...
New report: Global warming heats up urgency of Columbia/Snake salmon recovery
A report released March 27 documents global warming's effects on endangered Columbia and Snake river salmon and steelhead and proposes action steps to be incorporated into federal plans. The scientific review warns that global warming is now an overarching threat to salmon survival, and is co-authored by former Oregon fisheries chief Jim Martin and National Wildlife Federation global warming expert Patty Glick.
The Transformer - February 25, 2008
Our Nov. 28 Transformer on decoupling, a strategy for overcoming potential revenue losses for utilities that invest in energy efficiency, elicited a flurry of electronic responses. Several writers were complimentary; others sought clarifications of insider terminology (we’ll keep working on that!) or additional information, which we supplied them individually.
The Transformer - February 6, 2008
Wind continues to provide just a small fraction of the region’s power. To really combat global warming we will need a lot more renewable energy of all types in the next 15-20 years. This issue of The Transformer considers a recent study from the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) that examines the economics of “mega projects.”
MidAmerican withdrawing nuke plans in Idaho
MidAmerican Energy and its newly created MidAmerican Nuclear Energy subsidiary announced Sunday they’re withdrawing plans to develop a nuclear power plant northwest of Boise in Payette County.
Energy Matters Update - Innovative waste-oil recycling program helps families pay power bills
Longtime NW Energy Coalition member Oregon HEAT has come up with another groundbreaking way to help low-income families cope with steep heating bills … and benefit the environment at the same time...
Victory on Kalama!
In a victory for the environment and utility customers, Washington state utility regulators halted the permitting for a proposed coal-fueled power plant in southwest Washington.
The Transformer - Decoupling 101: Breaking the link between energy sales and utility revenue
Decoupling is a deceptively simple concept: “decouple” a utility’s bottom line from the amount of energy it sells through periodic rate adjustments – upward to make up for losses from reduced sales, or downward to reflect any “windfall” revenues from higher-than-expected sales. This issue of The Transformer looks more closely at decoupling, its pros and cons, the barriers to its widespread adoption, and recent progress toward inclusion of decoupling mechanisms in Northwest utilities’ rate cases.
Update on recent Transformer
A recent Transformer (“PacifiCorp’s Dilemma,” Oct. 29, 2007) described multi-state utility PacifiCorp’s proposed integrated resource plan (IRP) and detailed clean-energy advocates’ critique of the plan’s call for two new coal-fired power plants. Now, Oregon Public Utility Commission staff have released their “Initial Comments and Recommendations” on the IRP..
View Lazar-Cavanagh cap-and-trade debate
On Oct. 12, NW Energy Coalition stalwarts Jim Lazar and Ralph Cavanagh went toe-to-toe in a fascinating debate over how to create a fair and effective cap-and-trade system. The debate, a highlight of the Coalition’s fall board conference in Seattle, was recorded by the Seattle Channel and is now available for online viewing...
Coalition responds to historic Northwest ‘climate footprint’ report
On Sept. 13, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council sounded a regional call-to-arms on global warming. It declared that achieving the steep reductions in carbon dioxide emissions will require closure of ALL coal-fueled power plants in the Northwest. The historic Council report was not without flaws. Read inside to see the NW Energy Coalition’s and Climate Solution's official comments.