DOE Launches Its Own Snake River Dam Study

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a study on replacing the Lower Snake River Dams.  DOE said the Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project will be an 18-month study, exploring how utilities in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana can deal with future power needs in the event that the Snake River dams are removed.  The study will be funded by the Grid Deployment Office and the Washington State Department of Commerce.

In response, Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse issued the following statement regarding the study.

"This administration insists they are not pursuing breaching the four Lower Snake River dams, yet just announced they are using taxpayer dollars to conduct another study looking for ways to replace the power if the dams are breached," Newhouse said.

"I will be starting oversight of DOE’s Grid Development Office in the coming weeks to get to the bottom of why they are spending more taxpayer money to fund another study that ends with the same conclusion: the Lower Snake River dams provide a critical source of renewable, reliable, and affordable baseload power and strengthen economies in the Pacific Northwest." 

Click Here for the DOE's announcement, or to learn more about the Grid Deployment Office.

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