Currently, BPA sells electricity generated by hydropower dams, but the normally wet Pacific Northwest has been unusually dry this year. BPA acting administrator Steve Wright says wind power can help. Harvesting the strong, steady winds of the Columbia River Basin works especially well with our hydropower base. When the winds blow, we can save more water in reservoirs. When the winds are still, we can release the river's power.
Wind farms add to our local renewable resources.
The first wind power plants to be built for BPA will be installed by the end of next year, more quickly than most other power plants could be built. And its performance for BPA is just the beginning, according to the American Wind Energy Association which represents the industry. Using figures from two federal government agencies, analysts at the wind energy association calculated that the wind resource of the Western and Midwestern states is bigger in energy terms than the oil resources of Saudi Arabia. The federal Energy Information Administration estimates Saudi Arabia's remaining oil reserves at 261 billion barrels, or enough for about 90 years at the current production rate of eight million barrels a day. The Pacific Northwest Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy lab, has estimated the U.S. wind resource as being capable of producing 10.8 trillion kWh annually.