Staff with the Utilities and Transportation Commission have recommended a rate decrease for Cascade Natural Gas customers, saying the Kennewick-based company’s revenue increase request was not “in the best interest of customers.”In testimony filed Nov. 20, UTC staff found that Cascade’s 5.5% requested revenue increase is not necessary to cover...
Framatome’s nuclear fuel manufacturing facility in Richland played a key role in the first-ever use of a 3D printed safety component in a commercial nuclear reactor.Framatome collaborated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create the channel fasteners for stainless steel fuel assemblies that will be installed in the Tennessee Valley...
Utility-scale solar project planned for RichlandEnergy Northwest and Tucci Energy Services will develop a 75MW, utility-scale photovoltaic solar project on a 300-acre site north of Richland.Energy Northwest signed a letter of intent to lease the site to Tucci, which will develop what is billed as Washington’s largest utility scale solar...
CEO, Energy NorthwestBrad SawatzkeNumber of employees you oversee: 1,000+Brief background of your business: Energy Northwest is a joint operating agency of Washington state, comprised of 27 public power member utilities from across the state, serving more than 1.5 million customers. Energy Northwest owns and operates a diverse mix of 100%...
By Markus Stauffer and Richard GerlitzThe Horse Heaven Hills wind farm project planned by Scout Clean Energy (Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, May 2020) would stretch along 24 miles of ridgeline from south of the Tri-Cities at Jump-Off Joe Butte to near Benton City.As many as 212 wind turbines would...
As I have said in the past and will continue to vocalize in our nation’s capital: Hydropower is truly the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest. From the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest power producing hydroelectric dam in North America, to the dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers, Central Washington...
Richland plant set to begin operating new 11,000-square-foot scrap uranium recovery facility A $20 million facility is set to open before the end ofthe year at Richland’s Framatome, coinciding with the nuclear fuelmanufacturing company’s 50th anniversary in town. “The longevity of the Richland facility illustrates ouremployees’ commitment to innovation and...
Inthe coming decade, investors are betting that hydrogen will become a prominentfuel that can eliminate carbon dioxide discharges from the vehicles it energizes.Accordingto the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the transportation sector hasdominated the growth in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions since 1990, accountingfor 69 percent of the total increase. Itis important...
By Andrew KirkWith a nuclear reservation, national laboratory and cutting-edge agricultural processing in the Tri-Cities’ backyard, Jeff Leskovar expected Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid electric vehicle Outlander would be well received.“We thought they’d bepopular with Hanford scientists, a high-tech product like this,” he said. “Butwe sell a lot of them to Spokane.”Almost...
Natural gas customers in Washington started seeing higherenergy bills beginning Nov. 1 due in part to last winter’s colder temperaturesand a 2018 gas pipeline explosion in British Columbia.The state Utilities and Transportation Commission recentlyapproved rate adjustments ranging from 4 percent to 15 percent for Avista,Cascade Natural Gas, NW Natural and...
