Steve Ernst

Bonneville Dam. Bonneville Power Administration is delaying several major policy and market decisions pending the arrival of a new administrator, while warning that court-ordered Columbia River spill operations and transmission investment pressures are increasing financial and operational risks, Bonneville executives said during the agency’s second quarter business review on May 14.

Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) interest in Portland General Electric’s recent wave of rate increases could be the first sign of a slowdown in the race to decarbonize the Northwest electrical grid. In a Nov. 25 letter to PGE, Wyden referenced correspondence sent to his office from utility customers concerned with rising prices, and said he wants answers on the company’s rate increases that have exceeded 40 percent since 2021, with PGE seeking another increase effective in 2025.

Flathead Electric Cooperative has received $2.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for enhance wildfire protection, the cooperative announced Dec. 4. The funding came via DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office.