There’s an
interesting article in the Spokesman-Review this morning that you might want to check out. Avista is participating in the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region conference in Boise. One of the key topics discussed yesterday was energy.
The Spokesman quotes Avista Vice President of Sustainable Energy Solutions Roger Woodworth as saying, “We are tremendously blessed with energy resources of all kinds here in the Pacific Northwest region – the question is how will we decide to optimize those.”
Roger’s right and a mix is key. In 2008 Avista’s energy resource mix looked like this:
55% Hydro Power
24% Natural Gas
10% Coal
3% Biomass
2% Wind Contracts
6% Other Contracts
We’re lucky in this region to have all of these resources available to us. It helps us optimize the least expensive resources for customers. As renewable energy becomes more readily available and in some cases, required by legislation, you’ll see this energy mix – and that of nearly every other utility - change too. It’s an exciting and challenging time in the energy sector to be sure.