[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 103 (Friday, May 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32202-32203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11472]


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PACIFIC NORTHWEST ELECTRIC POWER AND CONSERVATION PLANNING COUNCIL


2021 Northwest Conservation and Electric Power Plan

AGENCY: Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning 
Council.

ACTION: Notice of final action.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and 
Conservation Act of 1980, the Council has formally reviewed and adopted 
the revised conservation and electric power plan, called the 2021 
Northwest Power Plan.

ADDRESSES: The 2021 Northwest Power Plan is available for review on the 
Council's website at https://www.nwcouncil.org/media/filer_public/4b/68/4b681860-f663-4728-987e-7f02cd09ef9c/2021powerplan_2022-3.pdf. The 
supporting materials, which provide technical support and context for 
the elements of the power plan, are available at: https://www.nwcouncil.org/2021powerplan_sitemap/. The power plan web page, 
which includes links to the draft power plan, comments received on the 
draft power plan, and all other documents, resources, meeting 
materials, and more on the process to develop the 2021 Northwest Power 
Plan, may be found at https://www.nwcouncil.org/2021-northwest-power-plan/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Shurts, General Counsel, (503) 
222-5161, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pacific Northwest Electric Power 
Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (Northwest Power Act) requires 
the Council to adopt and periodically review and revise a regional 
power plan, the northwest conservation and electric power plan. The 
Council first adopted the power and conservation plan in 1983, with 
significant amendments or complete revisions adopted in 1986, 1991, 
1998, 2004, 2010, and 2016. For the 2021 Northwest Power Plan, the 
Council formally began the review process in February 2019, and in 
September 2021 the Council released for public review and comment the 
draft power plan. During the comment period, the Council held four 
public hearings on the draft plan, all of them held virtually due to 
the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, but with 
each denoted as the public hearing for one of the four states of the 
Council, consistent with the requirements of the Northwest Power Act. 
In addition, the Council engaged in consultations about the power and 
conservation plan with Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville), 
Bonneville's utility customers, other utilities, various state, 
federal, tribal and local agencies and governments, public interest 
organizations, business and trade associations, and the public at 
large, and, accepted and considered substantial written and oral 
comments, with the Council receiving nearly 200 formal and informal 
written public comments on the draft plan. The Council's work on the 
2021 Northwest Power Plan came in the middle of a transformation in the 
power system in the northwest and the western US as a whole, driven by 
policies and economic trends that are pushing out fossil-fueled 
generation, adding renewable resources

[[Page 32203]]

with different power system characteristics, and potentially 
electrifying significant sectors of the economy. The Council grappled 
throughout the power plan process, including through consideration of 
the comments received on the draft, with a host of issues arising out 
of that transformation.
    At the Council's regularly scheduled public meeting in February 
2022, held in Portland, Oregon via webinar, the Council formally 
adopted the 2021 Northwest Power Plan. The revised power and 
conservation plan meets the requirements of the Northwest Power Act, 
which specifies the components the power plan is to have, including an 
energy conservation program, a recommendation for research and 
development; a methodology for determining quantifiable environmental 
costs and benefits; a 20-year demand forecast; a forecast of power 
resources that the Bonneville Power Administration will need to meet 
its obligations; and an analysis of reserve and reserve reliability 
requirements. The power and conservation plan also includes the 
Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, as amended 
pursuant to Section 4(h) under the Northwest Power Act prior to 
beginning this review of the power plan. The Council followed the 
adoption of the 2021 Northwest Power Plan with a decision at its 
regular monthly meeting in May 2022, in Whitefish, Montana, to approve 
a Statement of Basis and Purpose and Response to Comments to accompany 
the final plan.

(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 839 et seq.)

John Shurts,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2022-11472 Filed 5-26-22; 8:45 am]
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