PART 1
Seattle utility was
ill-prepared for a
chaotic market
PART 2
The power behind the power: Time for a change?
PART 3
Utility says it won't be trapped again
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It starts with a snowflake, and powers the Northwest
To run a 100-watt light bulb for a second, you need about 100 million snowflakes. And that is only the beginning of the technologically marvelous, yet surprisingly vulnerable, process that runs millions of lights, computers and stereos every day. [Feb. 2, 2001]
The energy crisis: ground zero
With the Northwest facing the second-driest year in its history, using water to generate power to send to California this summer could also hurt salmon, which need enough water to aid their migration to the sea. But to some living at ground zero, fish seem an easy trade for power. [June 3, 2001]
Energy-wasting begins at home
Northwesterners who wonder where cheap power has gone might be forgiven a suspicious glance toward the huge houses that have risen around Puget Sound. But those who study residential energy use say today's larger, more efficient homes actually can use less energy than their older, smaller counterparts. [March 19, 2001]
Federal commission OKs energy price ceiling
Federal regulators stepped into California's energy crisis yesterday with a compromise solution that will impose stricter controls on electricity prices and will close a loophole that permitted some companies to get around price restraints. Yesterday's 5-0 vote will extend new price ceilings on California's wholesale electricity sales to other Western states, including Washington. [June 19, 2001]
Higher electric bills? Most users unshocked
Past the early misery over rising power rates, many consumers seem to have settled in for the ride: goodbye to plentiful and cheap hydropower, hello to conservation and higher bills. If this new reality's effect on the community psyche is hard to measure, so is the effect on consumer behavior. While there are some mixed signals, it's clearly a class story - hardship for the low income, a low-grade headache for others. [April 23, 2001]
Critic: BPA should sell power on open market
A perennial critic of the Northwest's cheap public power says the Bush administration should walk its talk and require the federal Bonneville Power Administration to sell its power to anyone who wants it at free-market rates.[May 31, 2001]
Estimates brighter for power: Outlook for regional supply is good
The grip of the region's energy crunch is loosening, with better power reliability forecast for summer, lower regional rate increases come fall, and more supply coming online sooner than was predicted weeks ago. [June 6, 2001]
There's something in the air: wind power
The Northwest is at the forefront of a worldwide boom in wind power. Wind farms that could generate more than 1,747 megawatts of electricity are being planned or are under construction from Washington to Wyoming. That represents a potential 25 percent increase in the nation's total wind-power capacity.[June 24, 2001]
Can nuclear plants get 2nd chance here after WPPSS?
With pressure on throughout the region for more kilowatts and a pro-nuclear president in office for the first time in a while, nuclear power is getting a second look, in both Washingtons. But nuclear power will face a tough sell in the Northwest, where in addition to concerns about nuclear-waste disposal and plant safety, ratepayers still are paying off billions in debt for a string of partially completed nuclear plants in Washington.[May 14, 2001]
Utility can extend time-of-day rate plan
State regulators gave Puget Sound Energy permission Sept. 26 to expand and extend its time-of-day pricing program.
[Sept. 27, 2001]
Energy costs soak City Light
Seattle City Light spent a record $92 million buying power on the market in March, more than any month in its 91-year history. To put that in perspective: In 1999, before the current power crisis, the utility's total power bill for the entire year was $90 million.
[April 16, 2001]
NW utilities get socked the hardest
Pacific Northwest utilities are paying the highest prices in the nation for the next-day delivery of wholesale power, according to an analysis of market surveys. [April 13, 2001]
Bush energy plan: More power to you
President Bush's 163-page plan is ambitious and politically risky. It seeks to boost energy production across the board - from fossil fuels and nuclear power to solar and other environmentally friendly sources - while promoting conservation and energy efficiency. But it offers little or no immediate relief to consumers. [May 17, 2001]
Power grab: Electricity thieves ripping off $4 billion yearly
There are two little-known facts about electricity: People steal it. All the time. [May 16, 2001]
Hotels get an extra charge out of West's power crunch
Next time you check into a hotel in the West, there may be a little something extra waiting - and we're not talking about more mints on your pillow.[April 26, 2001]
Energy traders profit from California's plight
By seizing on opportunities created by deregulation, energy traders have turned up the juice in the electricity business in ways similar to how junk-bond traders ignited Wall Street in the 1980s and venture capitalists fueled Silicon Valley in the last decade. [April 23, 2001]
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