91视频

Activity within the northwest transmission system this season has sparked widespread debate, culminating in complaints against the Bonneville Power Administration‘s decision to curtail wind production. This week, the BPA and others issued responses to the wind-industry’s complaint.

The heaviest spring runoff from the Columbia River Basin since 1997 caused a surge in hydroelectric generation in May that overwhelmed regional demand. There was no agreement among industries as to how to handle the issue.

The BPA, which controls about three-quarters of the regional transmission system, curtailed wind production during off-peak hours starting in mid-May. The curtailments ended on July 10 and, barring an 鈥渦nexpected event,鈥� will not resume, according to BPA spokesman Michael Milstein.

鈥淲e were glad to see it was a limited impact on wind,鈥� Milstein said of the approximately 6 percent reductions in scheduled wind production. 鈥淲e know there was an impact in the end, but conditions are such now that it looks like there will be more flexibility in the hydro system, and demand has been increasing somewhat as well.鈥�

But a coalition of five companies filed a complaint against the BPA on June 13.

鈥淏PA has unilaterally broken (its) wind energy contracts,鈥� said Jan Johnson, spokeswoman for Iberdrola Renewables. 鈥淭hey are using their monopoly control to break contracts and seize transmission rights for their own economic interests.鈥�

Johnson contends that because the BPA replaced renewable wind with hydropower, which is not considered renewable, some of Iberdrola’s customers may not meet their renewable portfolio standards.

鈥淲e already paid for our transmission rights,鈥� she said. 鈥淏PA seized them so they could send their hydropower to our customers. Will customers continue to purchase wind power from the northwest if they don’t know if they’re definitely going to get it?鈥�

The wind coalition’s complaint was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and charged the BPA with violating the Federal Power Act by requiring wind farms to shut down operations. The group includes Iberdrola, PacifiCorp, Horizon Wind Energy, Invenergy Wind North America and NextEra Energy Resources.

The BPA on Tuesday responded to the complaint with a 554-page document that interested parties are still combing through. Ultimately, the response calls for the complaint to be dismissed. The BPA also defends its Environmental Redispatch policy, which is the strategy that allows the administration to replace scheduled generation, such as wind, with federal hydropower under certain system conditions.

For wind companies, however, the policy amounts to discrimination. 鈥淐urtailing one generation source in favor of another is discriminatory behavior,鈥� said Paul Vogel, vice president of communication and public affairs at PacifiCorp.

Vogel said PacifiCorp’s complaint is not based on the financial impacts of the curtailment 鈥� wind is a relatively small part of PacifiCorp’s energy holdings 鈥� but on the principle of the matter.

鈥淔or us it’s an issue of being able to count on and rely upon contracts and making the system work the way it needs to,鈥� he said.

The BPA maintains that because of its various legal responsibilities, wind curtailments were necessary for the reliability of the transmission system and to reduce harm to endangered species.

In its response, BPA argues that sending more water through dam spillways would increase dissolved gases that could harm the aquatic ecosystem, particularly salmon, trout and whitefish.

Five salmon advocates on Tuesday filed their support of the wind industry’s complaint, though, arguing that there is no scientific support for BPA’s claim. The organizations include Save Our Wild Salmon, Idaho Rivers United, American Rivers, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and the Institute for Fisheries Resources.

Also, the Oregon Public Utility Commission on Tuesday filed a statement supporting the complaint against the BPA.

鈥淲e believe they have picked on wind generators, and the customers we represent, including Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, are being hurt by these policies,鈥� said Bob Valdez, the OPUC’s public information officer. 鈥淩ather than BPA’s unilateral approach, we think they should be exploring other options to find the cheapest way to deal with this issue.鈥�

The BPA last year began public discussions about too much generation, Milstein said. 鈥淲e weren’t sure when, but we figured there would be a high runoff year and we would encounter these sorts of demands on the system,鈥� he said.

Milstein outlined a couple of proposals the BPA is considering to better manage the situation in the future. Upgrading the pumped storage project at the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington is one way the BPA could handle grid fluctuations caused by wind.

Grand Coulee already has a pumped storage system, which uses excess power to pump water uphill from a low reservoir to a high reservoir during periods of less demand. Then, when demand is greater, the system runs the water back down to the lower dam, generating power as it flows. Milstein says the facility is getting old and the BPA is working with the Bureau of Reclamation to see whether an upgrade would be useful in high runoff situations.

The BPA also is looking into ways to create demand during periods when energy needs are usually much lower, specifically between midnight and 5 a.m., which were the hours of the wind curtailments. Milstein cited a pilot project with a large farm near Richland that has switched its irrigation pumping to work at night rather than during the day.

Iberdrola and many others in the wind industry are calling for negative pricing, which would require the BPA to pay the wind companies for the time that generators are shut down, thereby replacing the production tax credits and renewable energy credits that they would have received from the government.

The BPA’s response to the FERC complaint provides arguments against paying negative prices, however.

Regardless of the ultimate result of the complaint, concerns about integrating renewable energy into the transmission system will continue to be an issue.

鈥淭he FERC complaint will decide some very important issues,鈥� Vogel said, 鈥渂ut we’re all in this region together and producing for the northwest. We need to work together to find solutions so that we don’t find ourselves here again.鈥�