The Pacific Northwest power system is undergoing a major shift that will change the current energy supply landscape over the next several decades. New state and local policies are affecting existing resource dispatch and future resource development, coal units are being phased out due to economics and initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the future of natural gas development and contributions to the system are uncertain, wind and solar development continues to dominate new construction, energy storage is becoming a cost-effective stand-alone resource technology and partner to renewables, and new emerging alternative resources and hybrid configurations are being pursued. And yet, through it all, hydropower - the stalwart of the Pacific Northwest power system - remains the region’s steadfast cornerstone. Learn more about the existing system resources, historical generation and carbon dioxide emissions, resource additions and retirements, and emerging trends.
- Existing System Supply
- Changes to the Power System
- Historical Generation
- Additions and Retirements Since the Seventh Power Plan
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Generation
- Looking Beyond the Region: US and the Western Interconnect
- Description of Existing Fleet by Generating Resource
- Transmission
- Environmental Effects of Generating Resources
- Existing Policies
- Translating the Existing System to the Council’s Models