 |
Mar 01 , 2010
If you happened to read the Spokesman-Review this morning, you might have seen a great article about Avista’s Sun Car and electric vehicle work along with the smiling mug of my co-worker and occasional blogger Hugh Imhof. You can check out the article here.
I’ve written about the Sun Car a few times, but it was nice to see the broad reach of the S-R to spread the word too. Here’s the deal – the car (actually two cars) are hybrid electric Toyota Priuses that have been modified to plug-in to electricity and hold a charge. The modifications roughly double car’s miles per gallon to around 90 MPG (not too shabby).
Employees of Avista have been driving the cars around our service territory in Idaho and Washington since last summer. As part of the project we installed solar panels on our company headquarters to help power the cars too. You can see a live feed of the power generated by the solar panels here.
On a personal note, I think this technology is pretty cool. Driving around in one of these cars is a different experience – it’s really quiet – but it’s also just the beginning of the electric vehicle revolution. As the price of gasoline goes up, more of us think about cutting back our driving or carpooling more. But what if you could plug in your car every night and get the juice to power your travels right from your utility? It seems like a convenient option.
Yet, from a utility perspective, it’s somewhat of a tricky prospect. These new cars will collectively take a great deal of power. While I don’t think everyone can afford to rush out and buy a brand new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle today, there will come a time when these cars become a viable (and affordable) option. Testing the cars as Avista is today ensures that we will be ready if and when our customers need us to meet their car-charging needs.
Feb 17 , 2010
|
|
|
The Reardan Wind project (site
shown above) is on hold for a few
years. | Post by Hugh Imhof
So it looks like it will be a few more years before Avista builds a new wind farm. We’ve had plans to eventually build a wind project at Reardan, but now we are pushing the timeframe back.
The decision to reschedule the project, along with any other new renewables, wasn’t an easy one to make. Avista thought that all the current stimulus and tax incentives and lower turbine prices might make this a good time to build a project, but the numbers didn’t quite pencil out. The problem is that we don’t actually need the renewables right now, and it doesn’t make sense to add all the cost (these things are very expensive) until it’s closer to the time when we do need them.
Avista is already one of the greenest utilities in the country. We get more than 60 percent of our energy from clean hydropower and other renewable resources. Our carbon footprint is among the ten smallest of all the generating utilities in the U.S.
Avista has a plan for new resources called an IRP ( integrated resource plan) that is updated every two years and looks at future resource needs. The current plan identifies that we will not need additional renewable energy until 2016. That’s because Washington has a law called an RPS (renewable portfolio standards) that requires utilities to get a certain percentage of their power from qualifying renewables such as wind or solar. Unfortunately our existing hydropower and wood waste project doesn’t count, according to the RPS. We’ve been upgrading our hydroelectric generators, which does count and helps us meet some of the RPS requirement. We’ve been buying renewable energy credits that also count toward the goals. But by 2016 we’ll need to add more qualifying renewable resource.
Until then we’ll keep evaluating potential new resources and make our decision based on the most cost effective ways to meet RPS goals while still serving our customers reliably.
Dec 09 , 2009
|
|
|
Mousetrap cars on display. |
When you think of alternatively-powered cars you might think of solar, natural gas, or even hybrid-electric, but I bet mousetraps don’t come to mind. Unless you’re from Kettle Falls, Wash., where they’ve got the mousetrap car down to a science. A science project that is.
Shane Heideman, who teaches science at Kettle Falls Middle School, designed a semester-long project to help students learn the basics of energy and get them thinking about how alternative resources can help decrease greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.
When Avista was approached by the school to take part in the project, we welcomed the opportunity to partner with the community and help support science education.
Approximately 120 7th and 8th graders, working in teams of 3-4, were given the assignment to develop, construct and market an alternatively-powered car. The only requirements were that the car be built using a mousetrap as the propellant, and that it be able to move three meters under its own power. Teams also had to develop a tri-fold marketing brochure and be ready to race their cars at the end of the project.
|
|
|
A mousetrap car shoots across the
gym floor. An Avista employee
records the time. | We helped provide information for the students’ research, speaking to them about our resource mix and how we make our renewable energy. We also showed them our Sun Car.
Student teams put in several weeks of working on the cars and brochures, and their hard work culminated in a race and brochure contest in late November. Avista joined in the fun by providing a guest judging panel and prizes to the teams with the best entries. The teams with the fastest cars in three rounds won cash prizes to split among team members.
The students were excited about their awards and proud of their hard work, and we had a great time helping out on the big day.
Oct 06 , 2009
I found out yesterday that I won an employee “eco-basket” for taking Avista’s carbon calculator on our website. They randomly drew five names of employees who found out what their family carbon footprint is by using the calculator. The eco-basket contains some cool eco-friendly stuff printed on recycled paper, Buck-a-Block T-Shirt (which was a medium, so that goes to my wife) and some snacks. Cool stuff.
There are many carbon calculators available online, but this one automatically pulls in your household energy usage, so you don’t have to do the math. It’s also calibrated for Avista’s unique energy mix. Avista is one of the greenest utilities in the nation, so it makes sense to have the specifics for our generation in your calculation. Other calculators are good, but use general information since all utilities and lifestyles differ.
Sep 28 , 2009
It’s been 50 years since Avista’s Noxon Rapids Hydroelectric dam first generated electricity. That’s half a century of supplying clean renewable energy to residents of Idaho and Washington. We’re not letting this event slip by without a bit of celebration. This Thursday, Oct. 1, we’re going to rededicate the dam in a public ceremony that you can attend. We’ll also be providing rare tours of the dam (yes, actually inside the thing).
During this same event we’re also recognizing the 10-year anniversary of the Clark Fork Settlement agreement. This is a multi-stakeholder agreement for managing and protecting the natural resources associated with the hydro project. This agreement has been held up across the country as a model of doing hydro projects the right way.
If you’d like to attend the event, be at Pilgrim Creek Park in Noxon, Mont., noon MST. Buses will take you to the dam overlook for ceremonies. The rededication ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. at the lower Noxon Rapids overlook, and will include remarks by Scott Morris, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Avista Corp., Richard Opper, director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and a representative of Montana Trout Unlimited.
The community celebration will be held at Pilgrim Creek Park beginning at 3 p.m., and will include public tours of Noxon Rapids Dam, as well as a picnic, music, displays and poster contest awards.
A dam tour for those attending the ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Buses leave Pilgrim Creek Park for the two other public tours of the dam at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tours should take 90-minutes including roundtrip drive time. Noxon is not a public facility and therefore is not ADA accessible. Tour participants must be able to walk for an extended period of time and climb stairs. You must register and show photo ID to take the tour. Children under 18, must register and be accompanied by an adult. Wear close-toed comfortable walking shoes.
All times are Mountain Time.
Sep 24 , 2009
Today we announced that Avista is seeking proposals from suppliers of renewable energy. Qualified projects would include wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, qualified hydroelectric, and other eligible renewable resources that meet Washington’s renewable portfolio standard.
We’re looking for these resources to deliver customers renewable power in addition to the renewable hydroelectric and biomass projects we currently operate. As a company we’re required maintain a renewable portfolio, which was defined in Washington in I-937. This was an initiative passed by Washington voters in November 2006 and requires utilities to have 15 percent of their load served by new renewable energy by 2020. (Note the definition says “new” renewables).
We want to get the lowest-cost resources in place to keep customer rates as low as reasonably possible. Seeking these proposals now, means we can take advantage of federal and state tax incentives – saving money.
It’s a pretty interesting time in the utility business. While the light switch in your house looks pretty much the same as it did 30 years ago, the resources that power it (and everything else in your house) are certainly being ever more diversified.
Here’s the news release with a few more details. I’ll keep you posted on this project as things come up. Sep 23 , 2009
Avista’s focus on biomass centers on its Kettle Falls, Wash., wood waste burning plant. The term “biomass energy” refers to the organic matter in trees, agricultural crops and other living plant material burned to create energy. Avista’s focus has centered on wood waste of various types.
In Kettle Falls, wood waste, which we call “hog fuel” is fed into a seven-story furnace/boiler and burned, creating heat. The walls of the furnace/boiler consist of pipes filled with water that are heated by the burning hog fuel. The optimal burning temperature is 2,000 degrees, resulting in a steam temperature of 950 degrees. The heated water generates stream and pressure that drives a turbine, which turns a generator, creating electricity.
The plant can generate about 53 megawatts from biomass alone – 61 megawatts combined with a natural gas-fired turbine at the plant. This is enough electricity to power 46,000 homes.
Earlier this month we announced that Avista is testing a biofuel (biodiesel) in some its trucks in an effort to green its fleet. This fuel is made from oil crushed from Washington-grown canola seeds and is not the same stuff burned in our power plant in Kettle Falls.
The Kettle Falls Generating Station is an intricate plant with many interesting machines and processes. For a closer look at what the plant looks like, please view this online slideshow with captions included. Sep 10 , 2009
Avista’s two largest hydroelectric dams are located on the Clark Fork River in Idaho and Montana. The Clark Fork Hydroelectric Project consists of Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids dams, and produces about 80 percent of Avista’s hydro power and half of our total power. As of this year, the project has been providing clean, renewable electricity to customers for a half-century.
This year marks two big milestones for the project – the 50th anniversary of the first power generated at Noxon Rapids Dam, and the 10th anniversary of the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement.
A little history
Avista, then Washington Water Power, began construction of Noxon Rapids Dam in 1956, after completing Cabinet Gorge a few miles downstream in 1953. The construction of Noxon Rapids was a boon to the economy of Sanders County, Montana, and the surrounding area, and Noxon Rapids began generating its first power on July 7, 1959. A dedication ceremony in 1960 drew a crowd of thousands to the tiny community of Noxon, Montana.
The Clark Fork Settlement Agreement, a multi-stakeholder agreement about how to manage and protect the natural resources of the area, was signed in 1999 after several years of collaboration, and resulted in the Clark Fork Project license. This single license to operate both Cabinet Gorge and Noxon Rapids took effect March 1, 2001, in an unprecedented issuance of the license by FERC a year before the existing Cabinet Gorge license expired.
Let’s celebrate
We’ve been marking these milestones throughout the year with a variety of activities, and over the next few weeks the commemoration will ramp up even more. This Saturday, September 12, Avista will host a charity golf tournament in Thompson Falls to benefit Sanders County Community Housing Authority, a non-profit agency that promotes the availability of affordable housing to residents of Sanders County and offers weatherization and home repair programs for low-income, elderly and disabled home owners. We will also hold a re-dedication and community celebration of Noxon Rapids on October 1.
All of our activities emphasize Avista’s commitment to community, environment, and collaboration in our operations on the Clark Fork.
Aug 13 , 2009
We’re about midway through August, so it’s time to gear up for Sustainable September. Together with Community-Minded Enterprises, the group is creating a month of events that will move us closer to sustainable living in this area.
According to their website, “Sustainable September is about strengthening Spokane for now and for future generations. And strong, sustainable communities have vibrant local economies, clean air and water, and a healthy quality of life for every citizen. Together with partners in the business, civic, and nonprofit communities, we are creating a series of events focused in the month of September that will increase awareness and share knowledge with the common goal of building resilience in Spokane and region-wide.”
Sustainable September Spokane has set up a cool social network over at: sustainableseptemberspokane.ning.com where you can get involved, find links and check out all the events, some of which are already underway. I'm signed up. What about you? Aug 07 , 2009
A little follow up from the Waterpower 2009 conference that was held in Spokane late last month. The folks at PennWell/Hydro Review who put the conference on, recorded a few of the sessions and I wanted to provide you the link. Of particular note for Avista customers is the opening plenary session that featured Avista’s Chairman, President and CEO Scott Morris and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Philip D. Moeller.
Morris opened the session and welcomed hydropower industry experts to Spokane – and even urged them to visit our local shops and businesses during their stay (which I hear they did in abundance). Morris also noted Avista’s commitment to the environment, how the demand for electricity is growing in our area, and how “we must engage our customers as partners in managing their energy usage while making decisions on how to generate power to serve that demand with little impact to our planet.”
Commissioner Moeller, who grew up in the Spokane area also had some interesting words for attendees. “The world won’t get to where it wants to go on carbon emissions without hydro power.” He also urged the industry to be, “No more Mr. Nice Guy,” and take the lead on energy policy and climate change.
Any thoughts on Avista helping host such a large conference in Spokane? Drop us a comment
|
|