The repercussions of a mid-February layoff of hundreds of probationary federal employees at the Bonneville Power Administration, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford field office continue to be felt across the Mid-Columbia.
Five leases in the region have been terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency, including in Richland. The move leaves more questions than answers.
The governor presented $4 billion in new reductions at the end of February and said he supports another $3 billion in savings former Gov. Jay Inslee proposed in December. This scrub is Ferguson’s first step in addressing an operating budget deficit that Democratic lawmakers say is roughly $12 billion over the next four years. Ferguson pegged the number higher, at $15 billion.
With Amazon and Energy Northwest teaming up to provide small modular nuclear reactors located at Energy Northwest’s campus in north Richland, local utilities are taking notice – and they are planning to take advantage of the opportunity.