Washington State’s Deadline For No More Fossil Fuel Impossible If Snake River Dams Breached, Study Says

By Annette Cary

The four lower Snake River dams are essential to meeting the Northwest’s climate goals to decarbonize the electric grid by 2045, says a new analysis commissioned by Northwest RiverPartners.

The analysis finds that breaching the four dams from Ice Harbor near the Tri-Cities upriver to Lower Granite Dam near Lewiston, Idaho, would require $15 billion to replace energy, but that greenhouse gas emissions still likely would increase.

“The analysis demonstrates that if we are serious about reaching our climate goals, dams on the lower Snake River must remain operational,” said Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners.

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Breaching the dams would require an additional 14,900 megawatts of new generation and batteries, the analysis said.

This is 23% of the Pacific Northwest’s current generation capacity and enough to power 15 cities the size of Seattle, according to Northwest RiverPartners.

For full story from the Tri-City Herald, click here.

Annette Cary is a senior staff writer covering Hanford, energy, the environment, science and health for the Tri-City Herald.

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