Demand for electric vehicles (EV) is soaring, accelerated by climate change concerns.EVs reduce tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and buses which are responsible for 30% of our greenhouse gas pollutants.The switch to EVs is worldwide and growing. The Simply Insurance website projects by 2040, 58% of global vehicle sales will...
Longtime Benton REA manager retiresBenton REA’s longtime manager has retired.Mike Bradshaw worked at Benton Rural Electric Association for 33 years and spent 41 years in the electric utility industry.Troy Berglund, vice president of member services, is serving as interim general manager.The Benton REA Board of Trustees is working with a...
Pasco breaks ground on animal shelterThe city of Pasco broke ground on its new Tri-Cities Animal Shelter on Nov. 30.The long-planned facility at 1312 S. 18th Ave. replaces an aging and dank facility that serves as headquarters for Tri-Cities Animal Control.Pasco is the host and manager of the animal facility,...
The Tri-Cities is uniquely blessed when it comes to energy, and that makes it uniquely well positioned to become the regional, if not national, capital of clean energy development.It will take the community working together to knit its many assets into a new engine to fuel our economy, from research...
In Ferndale, near Bellingham, a battle is being waged over a shuttered aluminum plant.Alcoa closed the plant in 2020 – and permanently idled another near Wenatchee in 2021 – but it is targeted to reopen using green energy to produce aluminum. The plan is widely supported as a major job...
For more than 80 years, the Bonneville Power Administration has supported local economies and regional growth by providing affordable, clean energy to consumer-owned utilities such as Benton Public Utility District, Benton Rural Electric Association, the city of Richland, Franklin PUD and Columbia REA.Today, BPA is taking steps to meet the...
Every day there is a new article or study proclaiming an urgent need for climate action, with myriad proposed solutions praising renewables as the cure-all.However, the realities of decarbonizing the electric grid are often far more complicated and nuanced than portrayed.Wind, solar and battery storage technologies are important, and deployment...
Research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has contributed for decades to the region’s leading role in clean energy technology development and deployment. The laboratory, based in Richland, has made advancements in energy storage, energy efficiency, clean energy and chemical production and electricity grid innovation. Today, our region has the potential to...
Most people drive gasoline-powered vehicles. Others have moved over to electric vehicles.But imagine a third option – driving a hydrogen-powered car or truck at a lower cost per mile.That possibility is coming sooner than you think, thanks to a local startup company called STARS Technology Corporation.The Richland-based company is deploying...
Energy faces a new frontier.Demands on data storage and energy to fuel computing power are exponentially ramping up as technology evolves and digital industries follow.The utilities that manage local power grids work around the clock to keep ahead of the curve and meet demand as the Tri-Cities and its surrounding...
