Hydropower
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Hydropower is central to the efficiency, reliability and affordability of LVE’s electricity. Without our access to hydroelectric power, we would be unable to deliver what is among some of the cheapest energy in the United States. Learn more below about Hydropower and your role in keeping it a viable energy source for LVE’s service area.
How does Hydropower work?
Dams harness the power of river water flowing downstream. Conceptually, they’re actually pretty simple.
When a dam is built, it creates a man-made reservoir. This reservoir functions a little like a battery. Dam operators can control the flow of water through the dam. When the water flows through the dam, it flows down through the dam to a turbine. When the water passes through the turbine, the turbine spins and in turn powers a generator. The energy produced is then distributed to various users. Due to the nature of the reservoir, dam operators can increase and decrease the flow of water through the dam based on the amount of demand at any given time. This is vastly different from other renewable energy sources, as wind cannot be stored for later use and battery technology doesn’t allow us to store solar energy sufficiently.
Hydropower is an extremely reliable carbon free source of renewable energy that complements other renewable energies.
85% of LVE’s energy comes from Hydropower
Hydro accounts for a staggering 85% of LVE’s power supply. This makes our power among some of the cleanest in the nation. This energy source also prevents flooding, erosion, and ensures stability and security for those who live around the Columbia and Snake River watersheds.
Benefits of Hydropower:
In addition to being a cheaper carbon-free energy source, hydro has attracted many large businesses to the pacific northwest. Additionally, dams help decrease the likelihood of flooding along the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Finally, by allocating runoff from the Columbia River, an additional 7.8 million acres of land have been made farmable in the United States.
The impacts and benefits of the hydropower infrastructure in which LVE takes part aren’t limited to our community – these effects stretch across the entire country. With climate change and water access issues on the horizon, hydro power is poised to be a critical piece of the puzzle.
Hydropower’s Impact on Salmon:
Prior to the construction of the first federal dam on the Columbia River, Salmon had been overfished to near extinction. As the first dams were constructed, a greater emphasis was placed on making dams safer for native fish.
As a result of these investments and other conservation efforts, the survival rate of juvenile salmon has improved greatly. Fish ladders, turbine bypass systems, and spillway weirs have made it so each dam along the watershed has between a 93% – 99% survival rate for juvenile salmon. Of all the threats to the salmon, dams pose a comparatively small threat.
LVE’s electricity supplier, Bonneville Power Administration, has funded close to $7.6 billion in fish and wildlife protection.
Snake River Dam Under Threat in the coming years
Recently, the dams along the Snake River have been a focal point of discussion for the Biden administration. In late 2023, the Biden administration proposed breaching these dams for environmental reasons. While congress would need to approve this in order for changes to take effect, the breaching of the four dams along the Snake River could stand to raise wholesale electricity costs for LVE cooperative members by as much as 40%. It may be preemptive to breach these dams without a source of energy to replace the energy vacuum removing these dams will create.
Get Educated & Take Action:
LVE encourages you to continue getting involved and educated about hydro power. We’ve compiled some additional sources below for you to check out.
LVE is committed to a clean energy future and low rates for our cooperative members. At the end of the day, we want what our members want, and strive to represent your best interests.
Ultimately, our community is built on hydropower. With access to the cheap and reliable electricity that hydro power has provided, the communities within our service area have prospered. We cannot make a seamless transition away from hydropower without first creating a comprehensive plan and building a robust electrical supply network to compensate for the deficit caused by offlining hydropower facilities.
While we respect the goals and intentions of the Biden administration, we must account for the needs of our cooperative members. Currently, hydropower is a key component of how we deliver our members some of the cheapest electricity in the nation reliably year over year.
Additional Reading:
Water cycle: The power behind hydropower
Reservoirs: The region’s storage battery
