Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recently visited the Ice Harbor Dam in Washington State with Bonneville Power Administration Administrator and CEO John Hairston and Brigadier General William Hannan Jr.
“Ice Harbor shows why hydropower is so important to the Northwest. BPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are modernizing the project with new, more efficient turbines that produce more energy from the same amount of water and support safer fish passage,” BPA noted in a post on LinkedIn.
At a Dec. 4 press briefing at the Ice Harbor dam site, Wright said that hydropower assets in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest “are why you’ve got well below national average electricity prices here.” The Trump Administration “wants to do everything we can to keep it that way.”
The four lower Snake River dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite — are part of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
“The lower Snake River dams continue to provide some of the lowest-cost, most reliable power in the nation and have helped prevent blackouts during severe weather. Ice Harbor itself plays a unique role as the only on-demand resource directly serving the Tri-Cities, quickly ramping up when local electricity needs climb. We’re proud to highlight the value this system brings to communities across the region,” BPA said.
