— by Tom Owens —

From my perspective, there is the ¨Inconvenient Truth¨ about OPALCO’s electric energy (or any electric energy on the WECC grid). Electric energy is far from clean and on the margin (for new loads or new conservation) the generating plants that increase or decrease to meet these changes are the most expensive plants on the grid. Those plants are the fossil fired plants.

When someone tells me an issue is very ¨complex¨, I get the feeling that they think I lack the intelligence to understand and I should just believe them. In most cases, this is true. It is not true on subjects I know something about. So, let’s reduce this ¨complex¨ issue to a few simple questions and see where we come out.

1. How can OPALCO electricity, when it is being saved by conservation, reduce CO2; and when OPALCO electricity, when it is being used for your new EV or any new electric load, cause little or no CO2 pollution?

Both of these statements can not be true. After all, it is the same electricity. The use of an amount of electricity has to have the exact opposite effect of conserving the same amount of electricity. So, one of these statements has to be false. It makes no difference where you are on the electric grid, conservation reduces the use of fossil fuel generation and new loads increase the use of fossil fuel generation. There is no free lunch here.

2. How does the electric grid respond when OPALCO customers conserve electicity? Does BPA reduce generation in the federal hydro system ?
When BPA sees reduced loads (when OPALCO customers conserve or generate their own electricity with roof top solar) there will be additional electricity available on the grid. BPA will use this electricity by selling it (and making money) to more expensive plants operating on the grid.These plants can then lower their expensive production and save money. These are the fossil fuel fired plants. Hydro generation (very low cost) will remain at full available capacity. So the conserved energy slides right up the cost scale to reduce generation at the most expensive fossil fuel plants. To do otherwise would increase the overall cost of generation on the grid. If BPA’s cost go up, OPALCO’s bill from BPA will incease. I don’t think anyone wants to go there.

3. How does the grid respond when OPALCO adds new load to the electric system? Does BPA simply generate more electricity from the hydro system ?
When BPA sees increased loads (when OPALCO customers add new load) there will be a deficit of electricty on the grid. BPA will already be at full available capacity (it is a very low cost resource) and cannot increase hydro generation. BPA will have to go out and buy, or generate, from non-hydro sources, this energy. This new requirement will be met by increasing generation from the plants not operating at their full available capacity. Remember, all lower cost resources, such as BPA’s hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, and some natural gas plants, will be at full available capacity. The responding plants (and most expensive) will be fossil fuel fired plants. So the electricity needed to meet the new demand slides right up the cost scale to increase generation at the most expensive fossil fuel plants.

4. Can BPA direct energy from a particular power source (hydro) to OPALCO ?
From my experience working in the power industry for some 30 years, there is no physical way for BPA or any other utility to choose which power source goes to OPALCO or any other particular customer. The only exception is BPA’s direct current transmission line running between North Central Oregon and Los Angeles, and a few direct current interconnections with adjacent grids in the US. All other transmission is alternating current which can not be directed from one source to one particular load.
The Western 1\ 3 of the US, Alberta, British Columbia and a small portion of Baja California are all on the same electric grid (th WECC). All loads and all generation plants are electrically connected by a vast electric transmission system (the grid). This is where the vast majority of electric energy comes from to meet our individual needs. The energy produced to supply this grid in 2014 came from resouces that were 26 percent hydro, 26 percent coal, 28 percent natural gas and 20 percent other (nuclear, solar, wind and other sources), (WECC Status of the Interconnection 2014). In my view, this is the mix of ¨fuel¨ we used in 2014 right here in San Juan County. More than half was fossil fuel. It will be interesting to see the ¨fuel¨ mix for 2015. Using the entire US ¨fuel¨mix to calculate carbon footprint, as the US EPA does, would be even more dominated by fossil fuel.

US EPA calculates CO2 emissions using the nation wide grid ¨fuel¨ mix. Governor Inslee likes to use the state wide ¨fuel¨ mix. Mayor Murray of Seattle likes using their local ¨fuel¨mix to claim to be the ¨cleanest¨city in America, and they do have their own hydro generation. OPALCO likes BPA ¨fuel¨mix. Everyone wants to be as ¨green¨as possible. This is politically expedient these days. The fact is, the electric grid is interconnected and if one place is real ¨green¨, another place has to be real dirty. Having the right answer only matters when you are trying to calculated (approximately) how much a conservation effort or an increased electric load will impact your carbon footprint. If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, you use LESS electricity, wherever you are on the grid. If you use more electricity, you increase your carbon footprint, no matter where you are on the grid.

We are all in this boat together (the electric grid boat). I believe any steps to reduce energy consumption anywhere will reduce CO2. Any new loads will increase CO2. Any steps to use less polluting energy sources can reduce CO2, but be real sure of the numbers. Reducing CO2 is vitally important as we are all in the same atmospheric boat!

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