By D. Patrick Jones

Data

tracking life in the Tri-Cities reveal many departures from the overall profile

of life in Washington.

Consider

the racial and ethnic make-up here. In 2017, an estimated nearly 39 percent of

the population was non-Caucasian, versus slightly over 30 percent for the

state. And the estimated Hispanic population in 2017 made up about one third of

the overall count, versus an eighth in Washington.

Or consider earnings in Benton and Franklin counties. The average annual wage is 80 percent of the state, yet at the start of the new century, workers here earned about 89 percent of the Washington average, according to Benton-Franklin Trends data.

One

can, of course, point to metrics that follow those of Washington closely. But

like other Eastern Washington metros, the Tri-Cities isn’t often “average.”

So it is with electricity consumption. As Benton-Franklin Trends data reveals, total electricity consumed in the two counties increased slightly over the past decade, about 11 percent cumulatively.

For the most recent available year, the total slightly

exceeded 5 million megawatt hours (MWh). According to the U.S. Energy

Information Agency, the average U.S. home in 2016 consumed about 10.8 MWh. The

Tri-City area recently consumed enough electricity to power more than 469,000

residential dwellings.

It

seems like a lot. And it is.

Consider

the per capita measure of consumption. For 2017, every man, woman and child in

the two counties consumed 17,803 KWh, or 17.8 MWh.

Compare

that level to the Washington state average in the same year: 12,863KWh, or 12.9

MWh.

Clearly,

life in the two counties is electricity intensive.

What

is likely at work? It’s improbable that residents leave on their lights any

longer than the average Washingtonian. More

likely is the demand from certain industries. Agricultural processing and the

activities related to the Hanford cleanup come to mind. Representatives of

these industries are all on the Tri-City Development Council’s list of largest

employers.

Of

course, there may be other industries that are high electricity consumers.

Interestingly, as online viewers of the Trends can note, there is very little

difference in per capita energy use between the two counties.

Another departure of the two counties’ energy profile from Washington’s lies in the electricity fuel mix. Hydropower plays a much larger role here than statewide.

For 2017, the state Department of Commerce calculated

that over 85 percent of all the electricity consumed in the two counties was sourced from hydro versus 68 percent for the state ­—

a share that hasn’t changed much over the past decade for the two counties.

In

2017, nuclear power generated 8.4 percent of total electricity consumed,

exactly twice as high as for the state. Nuclear power’s contribution here has

diminished over the past decade.

For

2017, carbon-rich fuels of coal and natural gases amounted to 1 percent and 2

percent, respectively, of all electricity consumed. Washingtonians in general

paid 13 percent and 11 percent of their electric bills on coal and natural gas

generation, respectively.

For

those wanting to live in a low-carbon world, the greater Tri-Cities provides a

home. Whether the hydro and nuclear power can continue to provide nearly 95

percent of all the electricity in the coming decades is an interesting

question. The counties have experienced the fastest-growing population since

the start of the century among all state metro areas.

The

Washington State Office of Financial Management estimates that the area will

gain more than 65,000 residents by 2030. With all the other demands on the

Columbia and Snake rivers, the bounty of hydro may not be as present in a

decade as now.

Perhaps

nuclear power will win enough adherents to respond to the increases,

conservation — in the form of lower per capita consumption numbers — will help

solve the anticipated load issues or the planned solar farm by Neoen on Energy

Northwest property will help respond to the load growth. Perhaps a combination

of all.

For

now and for the next few years, it seems unlikely that the low-carbon cocktail

of electricity that Tri-Citians are enjoying will change much. It also seems

highly probable that electricity intensity will continue to be a staple of the

local economy for years to come.

8 D. Patrick Jones is the executive director for Eastern

Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis.

Benton-Franklin Trends, the institute’s project, uses local, state and federal

data to measure the local economic, educational and civic life of Benton and

Franklin counties.