Chelan PUD To Continue Selling Power To Puget Sound Energy
Chelan PUD is reinforcing an agreement to sell its clean electrical power to Puget Sound Energy.
PUD commissioners approved a new contract that'll continue an arrangement for the PUD to sell 25 percent of its entire power generation to the Seattle area utility.
Puget Sound Energy CEO Mary Kipp says the PUD's power serves an important purpose.
"Just the ability to have the additional carbon free energy attributes, and the flexible capacity that's going to help us with peak energy to meet the needs of our customers during high usage time, is going to be mission critical," said Kipp.
The clean power from Chalen PUD helps Puget Sound Energy satisfy requirements in Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act.
The law was passed by the state legislature and went into effect in 2019.
It requires all Washington utilities to be 80 percent carbon free by 2030, and requires them to 100 percent compliant by 2045.
Between 2030 and 2045, the utilities can buy renewable energy credits to satisfy the other 20 percent.
The contract between Chelan PUD and Puget Sound Energy was under negotiation for more than 18 months.
In addition to its new agreement with Puget Sound, the PUD signed on to a 20-year deal for Avista Utilities in Spokane to receive five percent of the PUD's power output.
The arrangement will start in 2026 and increase to 10 percent five years later.
Chelan PUD Energy Resources Managing Director Shawn Smith says it's hydropower, which is all generated at its Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams, is an attractive option for any supplier of electrical power.
"It allows people to ramp up and down very quickly," said Smith. "And there's a large capacity associated with most hydro resources. So, they get a lot of power at all hours of the day."
Chelan PUD analyses how much power its 50,000 countywide customers will use, which is normally 20 to 30 percent of its total output.
The balance is sold on the open wholesale market under arrangements ranging in length from daily to the 20 years agreements it has with Avista and Puget Sound Energy.
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