Demand for energy storage in the Northwest

Is demand spiking across the Pacific Northwest?

Demand for electricity is spiking across the Pacific Northwest and its potential to outpace our supply in the years ahead is growing, according to a new energy forecast, detailing the tricky path ahead for utilities across the region.

Does Seattle have a high energy demand in the winter?

Take Seattle City Light, for example, which typically sees peak energy demand in the winter. City Light saw record-high demand during the cold snap this January (breaking the previous record from late 2022) and brought the region “dangerously close to having an inadequate supply” of power, the committee’s report says.

Is demand for energy rising faster than expected?

In April, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, an interstate agency representing Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, also raised alarm. Not only is demand for energy rising faster than expected, it’s also surging more severely and at new times.

Will air conditioning demand outpace supply?

The utility is also increasingly seeing new peak demand during heat waves as more people turn on air conditioning. It’s during these winter and summer spikes that the demand could outpace supply. The committee’s latest forecast indicates such a gap would arrive by 2030.

Will there be a power supply gap by 2030?

The committee’s latest forecast indicates such a gap would arrive by 2030. On the supply side, poor snowpack and earlier-than-normal melting seasons are cutting into Washington’s ability to generate hydropower, the state’s largest source of electricity by far.

Should utilities look into other energy sources?

Shelly added that utilities should look into other energy sources like modular nuclear reactors or hydrogen to possibly ease the transition further. Conrad Swanson: 206-464-3805 or [email protected]; Conrad covers climate change and its intersection with environmental and political issues.