Energy Northwest history

In September 1962, Congress passed and President John F. Kennedy signed a bill authorizing construction of a new dual-purpose nuclear reactor (the N Reactor) on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Commercial operation of the 860-megawatt Hanford Generating Project began in April 1966.

WPPSS made plans for a nuclear plant at Hanford, called Plant 2, and in 1971 utilities signed up to share costs and benefits.

Seattle achieved the expected savings through a variety of measures including the "Kill-a-Watt" program that began in 1974.

In 1975, City Light was given the opportunity to participate in Plants 4 and 5.

In July 1976, the Seattle City Council voted against participating in the building of the project 4 and 5 nuclear power plants based, citing a 12-volume study that recommended a program of conservation and alternative energy sources instead of participation in the nuclear plants.

Managing director Neil Strand resigned in February 1980, after being under fire for several months due to the cost overruns and construction delays at the five nuclear power plants.

In January 1982, cost overruns and delays, along with a slowing of electricity demand growth, led to cancellation of two WPPSS plants and a construction halt on the two-reactor Satsop Nuclear Power Plant which was 75% complete.

Seventeen months later in June 1983, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the long-term take-or-pay contracts to buy the power produced by the project were illegal.

On December 24, 1988, the parties in the various lawsuits reached a settlement of $753 million.

City Light produced a study, Energy 1990, which examined ways to meet future power needs.

In 1995, WPPSS decided to demolish what remained of the structures.

2 (Columbia Generating Station), 1999

The agency built and continues to operate White Bluffs Solar Station demonstration project, which was dedicated in May 2002.

In February 2008, Energy Northwest submitted an application to renew the project's operating license to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

On January 19, 2010, Energy Northwest submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license renewal of Columbia Generating Station.

Columbia’s electricity output has steadily increased since 2011 in response to maintenance and upgrades that have added about 60 megawatts to its capacity.

Since 2012 Columbia performed at an average capacity factor of 92 percent.

Columbia sent more than 9.7 million megawatt-hours of electricity to the grid, surpassing the previous generation record set in 2016 (9.6 million MWhrs). Columbia has set new generation records five out of the last seven years.

In October 2018, FERC issued the renewed operating license to Energy Northwest to operate and maintain the project for a period of 40 years.