Clallam PUD pursues local energy independence

By Paul Pickett

​In many ways, we live on an island. The North Olympic Peninsula is isolated, with only three highways that access it – U.S. Highway 101 on the coast and along Hood Canal, and State Route 104 over the Hood Canal bridge. When it comes to power supply, we are even more isolated. All our electric power is supplied by the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA) on a main trunk line that follows Hood Canal from the south. One disaster that cuts that line, such as a windstorm, landslide, or earthquake, and our entire region is without power until the line is repaired. And, as folks out on the westside know all too well, the line serving them frequently goes down.

Source: ​Bonneville Power Authority

In addition, BPA’s power supply is challenged by a number of factors. Power demand continues to grow from population growth and large data centers for internet service, cyber-currency, and AI. At the same time, the core generation from hydropower is facing challenges of climate change, with reduced generation from snowpack and longer, drier summers. And, on top of that, the Trump administration has walked away from negotiations with Canada for a new Columbia River treaty, leaving huge uncertainty regarding how Columbia River water from Canada will serve hydropower in the U.S.

The need for energy independence has been a focus for many Clallam County activists. Activists have called for more exploration of local renewable energy sources to provide system resilience, as well as supporting the pursuit of non-carbon energy to address climate change. Campaigns for Clallam PUD Commissioners over the last few years have seen strong support for candidates willing to support local renewable energy sources. With a Clallam PUD Board that has all new Commissioners since four years ago, opportunities are rising and being seized.

Last October, Clallam PUD published an article about investment in a new operations center entitled, “Exploring Local Power Generation: A New Chapter for Clallam County.”  The article proclaims,

Imagine a future where more of the power that lights our homes, schools, and businesses is generated locally. Local generation could mean cleaner, more sustainable energy, and greater independence from the uncertainties of outside markets. It could reduce our vulnerability to transmission interruptions, keep more energy dollars circulating in our local economy, and create new opportunities for economic development in Clallam County.

​It also notes that local power will promote “quicker recovery” from a regional power disruption.

What does the PUD’s local power generation initiative look like? Shailesh Shere is the Assistant General Manager focused on the PUD’s power service. He explains the PUD’s announcement. “While looking for property for an operations center, why not co-locate possible demonstration projects near the center, such as battery storage or hydrogen projects?”
 
Shailesh gave me a detailed rundown on the PUD’s current projects:

• Localized Distributed Energy Projects, like rooftop solar. The PUD has installed over 165 kW of solar generation on three of their buildings. They are also in discussions for solar projects at the Sequim YMCA, and the Clallam Bay Corrections Center. Shailesh elaborates, “We’re talking to a private developer about a public-private partnership at the Corrections Center. PUD would own the generation, the Corrections Center gets some clean energy benefits, and benefits could go to low-income customers.”
• Battery storage at substation level. These would provide resiliency on a day-to-day basis, reducing the impact of BPA outages and smoothing the daily peaks and valleys of electricity use. “We are discussing this with developers,” says Shailesh. “A developer would build the project, store power during low demand periods, and sell the power at market peak rates. But if the BPA line goes down, the contract would allow use of power locally.” This kind of project would be most useful for west end users who experience the most BPA outages.
• Utility scale dispatchable generation (5MW-25MW), such as a solar farm or biomass generation plant. This is one of the most challenging areas, given the complexity of developing large generation projects. Shailesh describes the steps forward. “The PUD has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to develop a Generation Feasibility Assessment. BEF will provide a broad range of support for investigating opportunities for ‘distributed energy resources.’” Shailesh elaborates on some potential projects. “Biomass, for example, would need to be one big project. It could be ‘marketed,’ but it would add to resiliency. Hydrogen would be used for storage, then used for generating energy during peak seasons. This creates space in the transmission system. We are looking for projects that break even or bring in funds compared to market prices.” 

The PUD would like to evaluate a variety of commercially mature technologies, and is pursuing grant funding for these efforts. Shailesh listed several grants the PUD has received for service reliability, free heat pumps for low income households, and development of a microgrid in Sequim (a microgrid is a local energy network with its own power source and storage). These grants have allowed the PUD to pursue these initiatives while keeping rate increases relatively low. 

Over the last several years, documents posted by the PUD show the PUD’s planning for additional potential projects to create or support local power generation, which could include: 

• Off-shore wind generation. Shailesh explains that there has been opposition from the Tribes on the outer coast to off-shore wind projects, so this idea is on hold. Virtually the entire outer coast is covered by Tribal Treaty Rights. 
• Marine generation using tides, currents, or waves. Clallam PUD has the advantage of having a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) research center in Sequim. PNNL has been working on methods to integrate marine energy generation with microgrids and the regional power grid and has been sharing their research at regional workshops that Clallam PUD has been attending. However, Shailesh notes “there is a PNNL report on locations for current generation, but we need more data to know good locations. Unfortunately, we have no internal expertise on this technology. With time and effort we will learn more, but we can get more immediate results from other technologies, like solar and storage.
• In addition, Shailesh notes that the PUD is reviewing studies by other entities, such as a geothermal study by Energy Northwest, and a biomass availability study by the Port of Port Angeles.

Ken Hays serves as Commissioner in Clallam PUD’s eastern-most District. I asked Ken a few questions, which are listed below with his replies:

• Why is it important for the PUD to pursue local power generation options?
  “I believe it’s important to improve reliability, to mitigate the persistent upward pressure on the cost of power and rates, and to ensure resilience against man-made or natural disasters. I also believe decentralization of generation is the future of public power, although exactly what that looks like in the future I am not sure.” 
• What kind of local power generation options do you think are useful and feasible? 
  “The PUD is actively seeking grant funding to study feasibility of any and all options; that said, today the most likely grid scale options are probably clean hydrogen and large scale PV (Photovoltaic) solar, combined with battery storage and distributed generation/battery storage utilizing individual rooftop PV, although I believe there would be resistance by homeowners for the PUD controlling their resources.” 
• How does the PUD develop local power generation while keeping electric rates low? 
  “We don’t really know what the costs are, yet, but controlled cost increases in the near term to mitigate uncontrolled cost increases in the future, combined with grid scale generation that can be sold into the system seems to be our best option for keeping rates as low as possible.” 
• What are you doing to help support the pursuit of local power generation? 
  “I advocate for local generation generally and for Clallam County specifically at every opportunity locally and while engaging with other organizations in the industry and helping to pursue funding lobbying our state and federal representatives, and by continuing to explore and learn all I can about the future of energy.”

​Clallam PUD Commissioner Phyllis Bernard represents the west end of Clallam County. She sent me her personal thoughts about why a local power generation initiative is critical: “In these rapidly changing times, one thing remains unchanged: Clallam County needs more reliable, resilient, and affordable power. Being wholly dependent upon Bonneville, without any local generation, means we have no utility-level backup power. Creating local generation has been part of the long-range strategic vision for the Clallam County PUD.” 

She continues, explaining that there are “state laws geared to achieve net zero emissions.” She reports that the Clallam County PUD is already nearly there. But she is concerned that meeting zero emissions leaves the PUD at risk of outages unless they can develop some local generation. “I think of it as part of disaster preparedness.”

Brian Grad is a PUD customer and local activist. He’s a Democratic Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) and currently Chair of Olympic Climate Action (OCA). “I’m gung-ho to get some kind of independent source for the peninsula, like tidal or wave action,” he tells me. He moved here in 2010, got involved with OCA and was interested in the PUD and local control. He continues, “We are relying on hydropower from the Columbia River, but the Snake River dams are a problem. Most of the water is coming from Canada upstream of Grand Coulee dam, and Trump just walked away from Columbia River treaty negotiations. That creates uncertainty – Canada may want more of the water for themselves. And we have AI and server farms now. We can’t take our cheap power for granted.” He also notes that there are threats to privatize BPA, and with climate change and new contracts, our access to the cheapest power rate may decline. 

“Local power generation is an issue for Democrats,” says Brian. “This is locally owned public power, owned by ourselves. We are not paying large corporations for the privilege of having electricity. Democrats are interested in how power affects people’s lives. We can use the ballot box to be in control of our lives.” He notes how our electric supply and rates have a “ripple effect” in our community. “Power is a basic human rights issue. Power should be affordable and for the people. If you want to have an affordable power bill, you need to pay attention.”

Brian is very interested in the possible renewable energy options for Clallam County. “There was a wind power proposal for Radar Ridge, out by the coast. But it couldn’t move forward because of issues with Marbled Murrelet habitat.” He is particularly interested in wave generation, and sent me articles about wave generation projects in Hawaii and California. “If they can do it in Los Angeles, why not in Port Angeles?” he exclaims. “PNNL is a great resource for our area. They already have a small marine generator at their lab that’s using the currents near Sequim Bay.” 

The Democratic Party believes in science, and supports projects to reverse climate change and the candidates who support those projects. Here in Clallam County, we have the opportunity to “think globally, act locally.” Keep in touch with Clallam PUD to learn about and support their progress on local generation. Attend their hearings, and provide comments on their work. As the PUD says, “This is not about keeping pace with change; it’s about leading it, with our community’s best interests at heart.”

For more details from Shailesh Shere about Clallam PUD’s local power generation projects, select this LINK.