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Article: Lower Snake River Dams Provided Crucial Energy and Reserves in Winter 2021
June 23, 2021

From the BPA newsroom:

“From December to March and particularly during the deep freeze of early 2021, the four dams on the lower Snake River were once again winter workhorses, according to a recent assessment by the Bonneville Power Administration. These four facilities not only provided important real-time electricity and critical power reserves, they also picked up slack when there was an equipment failure at Chief Joseph Dam – one of the largest dams in the Columbia River power system.

“Year after year, the Pacific Northwest can count on service from these projects in the winter when electricity consumption is highest,” said BPA Administrator John Hairston. “As we feel the impacts of climate change and the region builds more intermittent energy resources like wind and solar, we’re seeing more evidence that these dispatchable hydroelectric facilities are vital to public safety and electric reliability for the region.””

Read full article at:

https://www.bpa.gov/news/newsroom/Pages/Lower-Snake-River-Dams-provided-crucial-energy-and-reserves-in-winter-2021.aspx