Page 6 RAIN January 1981 by Kevin Bell The squeeze play is on in the Pacific Northwest. Electrical utilities are predicting widespread power shortages within five years in a region that consumes twice as much electricity per capita as the.rest of the country. . • Ur,like most of the Uriited States, the Northwest has always been heavily depe11dent on a renewable resource for its electricity. Until recently, nearly all of the region's electricity came from its abundant hydropower resources. Now, the utilities are pushing EST I AM. ELECTRICITY THE FARMWIFE's HANDY ANNIE heavily for a massive regiona'l investment ir thermally generated ~~ . ..,C' ~1:: electricity that would cause major economic and environmental O ~ ~ti. ~ ~ dislocations. There is substanti.al evidence, however, that a strong Cl; -fo/6 effort to implement cost-effective conservation and small-scale Ii _ .,,...,.~l..1.. '- renewable energy would be fully capable of meeting the region's D'i :1~~ • future power needs. It is quite conceivable that the Pacific North- . Ru/../ . _ west could becpme the first r~gion in the country to make the com- :._Al'/s mitment to a renewable energy'fitture. The de.bate has entered a new phase with the recent passage of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (known as.the Northwest Power Bill), which among other things sets up a mechanism for huge federal subsidies of new generation and conservation resources. What follows is the first of a two-part series about a region in the midst of a historic decision. Part One examines the roots of the debate. Part Two will explore the reasons behind the utilities' com- · mitment to thermal power, sketch the renewable energy alternative and analyze the implications of the Northwest Power Bill. In·1932 only one rural home in ten had electricity, compared to over 70 percent.of urban and suburban homes. The Northwest power grid is somewhat different from the rest ·of the country. The dominant feature of the region is the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)., a federal agency that distributes half and transmits most of _the electricity generated in the region. The rest of the grid consists of a half dozen Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs), a few medium sized municipal systems, and over 100 relatively tiny PublkUtility Districts (PUDs) and power cooperatives. A total of about 75% of the power in the Pacific Northwest is prci- . duced by public agencies, compared.to a natibnal average of about 25%. The reasons for the predominance bf public power in the region are i,nextricably linked with the formation of the highly centralized ''Give me my tools then fll speed your worl Early or late-I'll never shirk:' Co11r111y Gtntr11I l!.lutric Co. SLAVERY IS THE CORNERSTONE OF cfvILIZATION ... and progress is an eternal quest for the perfect slave. This fact-ignored by the slave merchants of Bagdad-is the basis of Mr. Stuart Chase's forecast in the accompanying text · of a hea,lthier industrial civilization reared on electric power. And the above portrait of Handy Annie is an attempt by our public utilities to bring the same point home to the public. Incidentally Gen• era! Electric, which pictures this Vishnu-like bondwoman, has generously given her a mate, many-armed Handy Andy, diligent doer of thirty dirty m_ale chores.
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