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Franklin PUD Studies Irrigation Waters as Possible Power Source by Mike Lee, Herald staff writer Tri-City Herald, January 4, 2001

Faced with a volatile power market, the Franklin Public Utility District could be looking for security in the irrigation waters of the Columbia Basin Project.

With hundreds of miles of gravity-fed canals crisscrossing the lower Basin, Del Lathim, the PUD's board president, hopes harnessing more canal waters can yield enough power to give farmers a few decades of guaranteed power prices.

Power costs are a top concern for irrigators, who need electricity to run water pumps and for food processors, whose equipment uses large amounts of electricity.

"We want one or two small projects just to get started," said Lathim. "As we go, maybe our project will pay for another one, and we will just keep building."

The idea is not new -- seven hydro plants were built on Basin Project canals between 1982 and 1990. Seattle and Tacoma utilities buy the majority of that power, which is generated by water from the Grand Coulee irrigation diversion draining through the Basin's three large irrigation districts.

The districts have considered four more power projects in Franklin County but haven't attracted buyers to justify the price of production, according to the Grand Coulee Project Hydroelectric Authority, which manages project power operations. A 1992 study showed production costs made the projects unfeasible.

When Lathim was first elected to the PUD commission in 1994, he attempted to sell the commission on expanded hydro development -- only to be rebuffed by fellow commissioners content to buy cheaper power from the Bonneville Power Administration.

But that was before electricity deregulation hit California, West Coast power shortages scared consumers and skyrocketing prices became a central Northwest concern in late 2000.

Lathim said before long such power might be cheaper and more reliable than other sources, especially if gas prices continue to rise. He plans to raise the issue at the PUD board meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday in hopes of convincing other commissioners to investigate how to develop 10 megawatts of power.

"You don't have to wait for the wind to blow or for the sun to shine," he said. "As long as we've got the irrigation district, we have power."

At Seattle City Light, spokesman Bob Royer said the utility had no immediate plans to develop further power in the Basin Project because it's already found power sources for the near future.

But, he noted, "We're delighted to look at any project right now, as long as it reduces our exposure to this absolutely bizarre California market."

In any case, development wouldn't be simple. For starters, the cost of electricity from new hydro plants could be twice the current cost of natural gas-produced power, said Merle Gibbens, secretary-manager of the Project Hydroelectric Authority.

The most economical sites already were packaged together for development, said Gibbens, noting that much of the potential power could be generated only during a few summer months when irrigation water is flowing.

He doesn't expect to see much short-term power development unless it's paired with other benefits, such as fish and wildlife improvements.

The irrigation districts, for instance, are considering one such project that would generate a few megawatts of power at Pinto Dam, put winter water in Crab Creek and provide an alternate way to fill Potholes Reservoir.