Electricity Generation in Washington State

The electricity in Washington is mostly generated by the dams; they produce most of our renewable energy, more than 15 times what is generated by the thousands of wind turbines.

Where does Wind Energy Come From?

This map published by the Energy Information Administration (www.eia.gov/state/?sid=WA) shows that all wind farms (the propeller circles) except one (Aberdeen) are located in Eastern Washington. The yellow stars on the map are solar generating plants, the blue circles are hydroelectric dams. There is a lot of wind along the coast but large windfarms are an eyesore and are not popular on the “Westside”.

Map of Electricity Generating Plants in Washington

Washington is a net Exporter of Electricity

Washington State export about 180 trillion btu of electricity to other states

Where is a Large Part of the Electricity Going?

Electricity generated in Southeastern Washington is sent to Southern California via the Pacific Intertie Trans-mission Line . The electricity generated from wind farms in our area is sent out of the region, not consumed locally- we have plenty of electricity.

From Wikipedia: The Pacific DC Intertie (also called Path 65) is an electric power transmission line that transmits electricity from the Pacific Northwest to the Los Angeles area using high voltage direct current (HVDC). The line capacity is 3,100 megawatts, which is enough to serve two to three million Los Angeles households and represents almost half of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) electrical system’s peak capacity.

The intertie originates near the Columbia River at the Celilo Converter Station of Bonneville Power Administration‘s grid outside The Dalles, Oregon and is connected to the Sylmar Converter Station north of Los Angeles, which is owned by five utility companies and managed by LADWP. The Intertie can transmit power in either direction, but power flows mostly from north to south.

What is in it for Scout Clean Energy?

Scout gets $ 0.15 per kWh in Southern California for their “green” wind energy while the rate in Benton County is about $ 0.058 per kWh, almost triple what they get in Eastern Washington. When they are saying the wind energy is for our local grid, they are not telling the truth!