Avista will add wind generation to energy supply

Utility will begin adding power source to mix in 2008

Avista Corp. soon will join the mix of utility companies statewide that use wind power as part of their energy supply.

Alison Boggs
Spokesman Review Staff writer

In a report released Wednesday, the Spokane energy company detailed the energy generating resources it plans to use over the next 20 years.

Starting in 2008, the company plans to use up to 75 megawatts of wind, enough to serve 48,000 homes and businesses.

"The main reasons for that are the costs have come down substantially. The technology has matured. There’s quite a bit more experience worldwide with wind," said Clint Kalich, Avista’s manager of resource planning and analysis.

After 2008, Avista projects wind will provide 2 percent of the power used by its customers. Company officials said the source of the wind has not been determined. Though the Stateline Wind Farm in the Walla Walla area has a generating capacity of 300 megawatts, Kalich said it’s likely that power will be booked by 2008. Other sites are being developed in Washington state, Kalich said.

Avista officials said it’s too early to project what impact wind power could have on rates. However, the company wouldn’t be considering wind if it weren’t cost-effective, said Catherine Markson, an Avista spokeswoman.

Several other utility companies in the state already use wind, including PacifiCorp., which owns or contracts for 83 megawatts of wind power, and Puget Sound Energy, which has a contract with Stateline for 25 megawatts, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

One of the leading conservation groups in the Northwest gave Avista Corp.’s move to use wind power lukewarm praise.

"It’s good news because it’s a commitment to wind power from the second-largest investor-owned utility in the state," said Sara Patton, executive director of the NW Energy Coalition.

However, Patton said she was dismayed that at the same time Avista is turning to wind power it is relying on coal and natural gas. Of the new power resources being added after 2008, wind makes up 10percent.

"It’s very worrisome to see that much coal," Patton said. "Coal is a human health disaster."

Markson responded that coal is part of the power resources available in this market and something the company already uses.

"We couldn’t be 100 percent dependent on wind because of the nature of it," Markson said, referring to the fact that wind generation is active only about 30 percent of the time. "We have to have the power supply available."

The company also pointed out that in the past 10 years, Avista has saved 599 million kilowatt-hours through conservation programs. Future energy efficiency efforts are expected to save an additional 788million kilowatt-hours over the next 20 years. A typical home uses about 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month.

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