Tracking the Northwest's Power Supply

In order to plan the region's energy supply, the Council maintains a comprehensive database of generating resources. The data is updated in a workbook each day, and a portion of it is made available to the public periodically.

"We use the information in the Council's models and analyses and to assess the adequacy of the power system," says Terry Morlan, power division director.

Ken Dragoon, resource analyst and Gillian Charles, policy analyst gave a tour of the database and interactive map at this week's Council meeting.

The database is a critical tool for the Council as it develops its regional power plan, but it's also widely used by others in the Northwest, and in other parts of the country and world as well.

"The main purpose of the database is for our work, but it's one of the most complete resources available, and because of that we've found that a lot of other organizations use it," says Charles.

The database contains a wealth of information that can be filtered in a variety of ways. Several charts and graphs are also available showing the region's energy mix and historical development.

In the future, the Council hopes to continue to make the public portion of the database even easier to use, with links to other pertinent information.

"Right now, we're really focused on keeping the information updated. We'd like people to know about the database, that it's a useful tool not just for our work, but for others as well," notes Charles.

If you have information that will help us to keep the database updated, you're encouraged to contact Charles at 503-222-5161 or gcharles@nwcouncil.org.