The Northwest needs a two-track strategy to meet the power shortage challenge. In the short-term, we must make plans to curb the amount of electricity we use at times when our demand for power is greatest. Over the long haul, we must restore the kind of cost-effective energy conservation investments that served us so well in the past, and we must break ground faster on new renewable resources such as wind and solar power. It's time to turn the corner on clean energy. The highs and lows of power consumption on a mass scale are regular and predictable.
Individual households can help prevent a power shortage without reducing their overall energy use.
For example, dishwashers and other appliances can be set to run during the workday or the dead of night rather than in the evening when heating systems tend to work their hardest. In a similar vein, a factory can shift the most electricity-intensive part of its production process away from times when regional power demand is highest. Building the conservation power plant Energy conservation can do what any power plant can do, only better. A large gas-fired power plant can produce 500 average megawatts of electricity per year and takes from two to four years to build. The conservation power plant, however, will never suffer a breakdown, can last much longer and doesn t cause pollution.