Northwest Power Council begins regional power plan review, flags clean baseload and storage as possible options

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council told the Oregon Senate Committee on Energy and Environment on March 5 that its ninth Northwest Regional Power Plan will produce a 20-year load forecast and evaluate a broad set of resource options, including demand-side measures, renewables, storage and a proxy “clean baseload” resource similar to a small modular reactor.

The council’s Director of Power Planning, Jennifer Light, said the plan will "put forward a 20 year forecast of loads" and examine "the costs, the availability, the timing" of resources that could meet regional needs. She told senators the council will model three proxy emerging technologies to represent a range of possible new resources: a clean baseload resource (similar to a small modular reactor), a clean peaking or medium-duration storage resource, and a clean long-duration iron-air battery.

The council, created by the Northwest Power Act of 1980, develops a regional power plan…