In some respects, he's right to keep his distance. And they need to act now. Energy Northwest is considering whether to use the generator from Plant No. 1 to boost electricity production at its sole operating nuclear plant, Columbia Generating Station. Once that happens, finishing No. 1 would be even more unlikely. One thing's for certain - the Northwest will have to move beyond its hydropower dependence to bring stability and growth to the region's power supplies.
Public power seems to lack the vision to lead the necessary diversification.
Energy Northwest's consortium of public utilities has agreed to build a wind farm south of Finley that will produce enough juice to power 25,000 homes. But it passed on a much bigger opportunity when it sold some of its Satsop site west of Olympia this year to a private company with plans to build a gas-fired plant that will produce 25 times as much power. Right now, the region's energy supplies are so precarious that last week, Washington Gov. Gary Locke suspended clean air regulations and gave utilities and industries the go-ahead to fire up diesel generators. Locke issued that order two days after releasing his plan to address the West Coast energy crisis, a nuclear-free proposal that focuses on promoting conservation and green power projects that churn out meager wattage. That's exactly the point.