Demand For Electricity In The Pacific Northwest

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ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 75 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (742 download)

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Download or read book Generating Electric Power in the Pacific Northwest. Implications of Alternative Technologies written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Pacific Northwest faces some critical energy issues over the next 20 years. There is significant uncertainty about energy supplies, energy prices, and the implications of competitive energy markets. Therefore, as energy demands continue to rise, it is important for the states in the region to understand the risks and opportunities of different energy supply and demand options. This report addresses issues in electricity supply and demand for four states in the Pacific Northwest: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. For much of the past 50 years, these states have relied heavily on hydroelectric power to meet their energy needs, and this inexpensive electricity has helped keep electricity rates low in the region, compared with the rest of the United States. However, the region cannot add much new hydroelectric capacity, so increasing demands for electricity in the future will have to be met by other sources. It is expected that the bulk of new electricity-generating capacity will come from natural-gas-fired power plants. While the combined share of electricity generated by hydroelectric and natural-gas-fired plants is expected to remain the same through 2010 (together, they provide 86 percent of the capacity in the region, the remainder being provided primarily by coal and nuclear plants), the proportion generated by natural gas will rise dramatically. Table S.1 summarizes the shares of current and future expected generating capacity in the region. The changes in the shares provided by the two major sources will have a number of consequences for the states in the region.