January 2025
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READING The wonders of hydropower and why it’s important
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s our country’s economy continues to grow, so too does the demand for reliable electricity. Data centers, new manufacturing facilities and our daily lives are requiring more and more electricity. In fact, U.S. power consumption is expected to rise to record highs this year and next, and the demand for electricity in the U.S. is expected to at least double by 2050. In 2020, Washington state passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), which requires all state electric utilities to become carbon-neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by 2045. Inland Power understands the importance of this law and is committed to a carbon-free goal. As we prepare for this rising demand, Inland Power is planning ahead to ensure members have access to an affordable and
reliable supply of electricity. Maintaining and investing in hydroelectricity is key to achieving this measure. Without our hydropower system in place, Washington could face power generation struggles similar to what many other states are facing throughout the country. Other renewable generation sources such as solar and wind are important pieces to the puzzle; however, both are intermittent sources of power and offer limited realiability. Today, 90 percent of the Pacific Northwest’s renewable energy comes from hydropower. Removing any of our region’s dams would likely result in energy costs rising and would also increase the risk of energy shortages and potential blackouts. Hydropower is vital to keep running our everyday lives. We have already seen the
potential for disaster when it comes to not having enough resources in our region. Twice in the last four years, life-threatening cold snaps drained our energy resources to near catastrophic levels. Regional utilities were desperately urged to ask consumers to conserve power before we ran out. It was hydropower, primarily the dams on the lower Snake River, that kept our lights on and more importantly heaters running. We encourage our members to get involved and help us in our mission to keep utilities affordable and protect our power supply. To find out how you can get involved, visit our Grassroots Action Team page at inlandpower.com/grassroots-action, inlandpower.com/grassroots-action and to learn more about hydropower, visit inlandpower.com/hydropower. inlandpower.com/hydropower
Our mission is our members!