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    Washington state's Chelan County Public Utility District to supply Hydropower to Avista Grid

    Jan. 4, 2022
    The energy will be supplied from the PUD’s Rock Island and Rocky Reach hydropower projects
    Cheland County PUD
    Rocky Reach 61d496ada94d4

    The Chelan County Public Utility District in Washington state has signed a 20-year contract with energy firm Avista Corp. to provide renewable power from its two hydro projects on the Columbia River.

    Avista will receive 5% of the output from the PUD’s Rock Island and Rocky Reach hydropower projects from 2026 through 2030. It will increase to 10% of the output from these projects between 2031 and 2045. The contract includes carbon-free energy supply from hydropower projects as well as dispatchable capacity to meet Avista’s peak energy requirements.

    The contract will increase Avista’s carbon-free resources and help it achieve its 2030 renewable energy goals. Moreover, it will contribute flexible capacity to the energy needs of Washington and Idaho.

    Avista’s senior vice president of energy resources, Jason Thackston said, “It’s another important step on our way to serving customers with 100% clean electricity by 2045 and 100% carbon neutral resources by 2027.”

    PUD General Manager Steve Wright added, “We see great value in this partnership with Avista as it delivers more clean, renewable, reliable hydropower to customers in the Pacific Northwest. Increasing commitment to decarbonizing the electric sector, particularly in the western U.S., is increasing the value of hydropower.”

     Wright also said the contract increases the PUD’s wholesale revenue, which supports low customer-owner rates and amenities like broadband services and our parks.

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.