PORTLAND — The Pacific Northwest’s power grid could be pushed beyond its limits in just five years by the staggering electricity demands of the booming data center industry, regional power planners recently reported. A forecast by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council highlights a looming conflict between an increasingly digital world and utilities’ capacity to […]
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Surge in electricity demand spells trouble for PNW, forecasts show
EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, Olympia — Power planning forecasts in the Northwest show trouble ahead, in spiking demand for energy, transmission worries and no quick or cheap answers. The state and its neighbors are going to face challenges in keeping the lights on while complying with environmental mandates, including rebuilding salmon runs and meeting commitments to […]
Keep lights on as Washington transitions to clean power
A January cold snap that strained the Pacific Northwest electricity grid also serves as a cautionary tale for its future. With temperatures in the teens, power utilities across Washington struggled to cover spiking demand to keep the lights on. Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility, even asked its customers to turn down thermostats and […]
Fix WA climate law’s broken promise to farmers
Lawmakers enacted Washington’s cap-and-trade system with the understanding that agriculture would be exempt from the increased costs created by the nascent carbon emissions market. But more than a year into the landmark climate law, some farmers and those transporting their goods continue to pay more than they should at the gas pump. This is a […]
The costs of WA’s cap-and-trade law are just getting started
When the Legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act in 2021, the fiscal note for the law projected prices for carbon credits starting at $20 and increasing by a dollar or so a year. Instead, prices shot up in this year’s auctions, to more than three times that level. Washington’s carbon credits are selling for prices […]
Editorial: Who causes high fuel prices? Politicians need only look in mirror
A couple of months ago, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee famously said that oil companies alone are to blame for skyrocketing gasoline and diesel fuel prices in his state. “We want to give drivers relief. We want to go to the heart of this problem, which is the greed and avarice of oil companies, who are […]
Washington CO2 price jumps again, reaching 50 cents per gallon
The results of the latest auction of CO2 allowances were announced and the price continues to rise, increasing 12 percent above the amount from just three months ago. The price hit $63.03 per metric ton of CO2, which amounts to about 50 cents per gallon of gasoline and 61 cents per gallon for diesel. The […]
WA’s carbon-pricing auctions collect nearly $1.5 billion as allowances reach record price
The price of Washington’s carbon emission allowances reached an all-time high in the state’s fourth auction last week, with revenue from the program nearing $1.5 billion in its first year. The revenue has far outpaced early estimates, and now a group that helped advocate for and pass the legislation that created the carbon-pricing market is […]
More pricey carbon allowances sell amid pain at the pump
A special pool of carbon allowances was auctioned by the Department of Ecology last week and the results figure to pour figurative gasoline on the debate over the cap-and-trade system’s impact on the price of actual gasoline. This latest auction stems from the state’s Climate Commitment Act which caps the total amount of CO2 that […]
WA’s carbon-pricing program nears $1 billion in revenue, far outpacing early estimates
Washington’s latest auction of carbon-emission allowances raked in $62.5 million last week, with revenue from the state’s carbon-pricing program now nearing a billion dollars and far outpacing early estimates. The state Department of Ecology announced Wednesday the results of its special auction held last week because the previous quarterly auction in May exceeded a “trigger” […]