Cost and Energy Impacts ofFish and Wildlife Operations

NW Power Planning CouncilApril 3, 2002Boise, Idaho

Why are we doing this?

• To help the Council focus on where best to spend research money.

• To help prioritize fish and wildlife measures in the event that some may have to be curtailed for power emergencies.

• To help the Council choose between two or more alternatives that achieve the same biological objectives.

What is it?

• Each component of the fish and wildlife main-stem operation is analyzed separately.

• Each scenario has one and only one component removed from (or added to) current operations.

• We observe the average monthly change in generation and the cost for each component.

What is it not?

• A cost/benefit analysis for fish and wildlife measures

• An integration of fish & wildlife and power planning

• A balancing of power and fish & wildlife needs

Caveats

• Not all components were examined • Components are not independent

– The cost of removing two components at the same time is not the same as the sum of the cost of each separately.

– Cannot simply add up the cost of all components to get the total cost of current operations.

Components of a F&W Operation

• Flow Augmentation

• Reservoir Elevation

• Bypass Spill

Flow Augmentation (purpose)

• To reduce travel time

• To keep redds under water

• To reduce water temperature

Flow Augmentation (examples)

• Chum flows at Bonneville (fall and winter)• Vernita Bar flows (winter and spring)• Summer flow augmentation (Snake and

Columbia)• Water releases for temperature control in late

summer

Reservoir Elevation (purpose)

• Winter fill to store water for flow augmentation

• Spring-Summer release for flow augmentation

• Drafting/filling limits for resident fish

Reservoir Elevation (examples)

• Winter fill at Coulee, Libby, Horse and Dworshak• VARQ flood control at Libby, Horse and Coulee• Integrated Rule Curves at Libby and Horse• Coulee retention time operation• Summer draft limits at Coulee, Libby, Horse and

Dworshak

Bypass Spill (purpose)

• Increase survival past dams

• Most useful at sites w/o guidance systems

• Coordinate spill with transportation policy

-1400 -1200 -1000 -800 -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600

Energy Change (MW-months)

jda spring spill

dal spring spill

jda summer spill

ice spring spill

bon summer spill

dal summer spill

bon spring spill

lmn spring spill

ice summer spill

mcn aug2 flow

cou summer drft

dwr summer drft

lib summer drft

lgr spring spill

lgs spring spill

mcn spring spill

horse winter fill

Lib Hor IRCs

lgr july flow

upper Snake 427

mcn july flow

mcn aug1 flow

lgr aug2 flow

lgr aug1 flow

dwr winter fill

libby winter fill

VARQ

hor summer drft

chum flows

coulee winter fill

coulee retention

50-Year Average Energy Impacts of Components

Stable (?) Electricity Prices

0

5

10

15

2025

30

35

40

45

Sep

Oct

Nov Dec Jan

Feb

Mar

1-A

pr

2-A

pr

May Jun

Jul

1-A

ug

2-A

ug

Pric

e ($

/MW

-hou

r)

27.7 Avg

-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Cost (millions of dollars)

jda summer spill

bon summer spill

dal summer spill

jda spring spill

dal spring spill

ice spring spill

ice summer spill

bon spring spill

lmn spring spill

coulee winter fill

lgr spring spill

Lib Hor IRCs

lgs spring spill

cou summer drft

lib summer drft

dwr summer drft

mcn july flow

lgr july flow

mcn spring spill

lgr aug2 flow

lgr aug1 flow

upper Snake 427

libby winter fill

dwr winter fill

horse winter fill

mcn aug1 flow

VARQ

hor summer drft

mcn aug2 flow

chum flows

coulee retention

50-Year Average Annual Cost of Components

Highest Cost Components

• John Day Summer Spill• Bonneville Summer Spill• The Dalles Summer Spill• John Day Spring Spill• The Dalles Spring Spill• Ice Harbor Spring Spill• Ice Harbor Summer Spill• Bonneville Spring Spill• Lower Monumental Spring Spill

Low Cost Components• Grand Coulee Winter Fill• Lower Granite Spring Spill• Libby and Horse Integrated Rule Curves• Little Goose Spring Spill• Grand Coulee Summer Draft• Libby Summer Draft• Dworshak Summer Draft• McNary July Flow Augmentation• Lower Granite July Flow Augmentation• McNary Spring Spill

No Cost Components

• Lower Granite August Flow Augmentation– Generally no flow augmentation water is left

• Upper Snake 427 Kaf Flow Augmentation• Libby Winter Fill• Dworshak Winter Fill• Hungry Horse Winter Fill

Revenue Increasing Components

• McNary August 1-15 Flow Augmentation• VarQ Flood Control (Libby, Horse, Coulee)• Hungry Horse Summer Draft• McNary August 16-31 Flow Augmentation• Chum Flows• Grand Coulee Retention Time Operation

Cost of Spill Changes with Flow

• When bypass spill is a percentage of outflow• When flows are above turbine capacity

– Forced spill is counted first and does not add to the cost of bypass spill

• Does not change when the gas supersaturation limit is reached

Bypass Spill vs. Outflow(when spill is a percentage of outflow)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

100 150 200 250 300 350 400Outflow (Kcfs)

Byp

ass

Spill

(Kcf

s)

Dry Wet

Gas Cap Limit

Forced Spill