When it comes to heavy industry and manufacturing, low-cost electricity and the power sector are foundational to producing competitively priced goods and products.The Tri-City area is increasingly on the radar of companies looking for communities to bring new industries and jobs, the kind of jobs that include good wages and...
The decarbonization of the electric grid seems to be the topic of news stories across the country.The call for replacement of the fossil-fuel infrastructure, that was built over centuries, with clean-energy alternatives is the mantra of this generation.This decarbonization effort will require an unprecedented amount of investment, planning and skill...
When I’m home, like everyone else, I flip on the light switch and expect my lights to come on without giving a thought about if there’s enough electricity available.That’s the way it should be. People are busy and shouldn’t be concerned about there being enough electricity to keep the lights...
Gov. Jay Inslee will seek $10 million in 2023 to establish the Institute for Northwest Energy Futures at Washington State University Tri-Cities.The move fulfills the dream of the late Bob Ferguson, an influential U.S. Department of Energy and Energy Northwest executive who endowed the institute’s first chair with a $500,000...
For decades, Washington has reaped the benefits of forward-thinking leaders who constructed a series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The low-cost, carbon-free renewable electricity generated by the dams supported thousands of jobs, and the irrigation made possible by the dams turned Eastern Washington’s soil into fertile...
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, released the final edition of a study, Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Report, that concludes the status quo is not an option when it comes to whether or not to remove the four dams.The study, released in late August,...
New paint recycling tops 581,000 gallonsPaintCare, Washington’s new paint recycling program, reports it collected more than 581,000 gallons of surplus paint in its first nine months.The program operates 210 year-round drop-off sites, mostly at paint stores, and recycled 88% of the latex paint collected back into usable paint. Of the...
Over the next few years, we’ll be hearing a lot about Scope 1, 2 and 3.No, it’s not a revisit of a famous trial in Tennessee about a hundred years ago. The terms invoke science, however. Instead of a reflection on human ancestry, they look ahead to the future of...
Richland is preparing to launch final testing of a new utility metering system prior to its rollout in 2022, ending the need for dedicated meter readers to visit the 27,000 homes and businesses throughout the city.Officials hope to have new electric and water meters installed in most locations by the...
J. Clay SellJ. Clay Sell had two main goals when he visited the Tri-Cities in October to participate in Energy Northwest’s annual conference in Kennewick.Sell, chief executive officer of X-energy, came to discuss a government-backed partnership that will bring a fourth-generation nuclear plant to the Energy Northwest campus north Richland.Sell...
