Pacific Northwest Uses Gas to Cover Low Hydro Levels

摘要

The Pacific Northwest has gotten some badly needed drought relief from major storms systems that have been pounding the region lately. But the warm, dry 2014-15 winter was far different and dramatically stepped up natural gas and other fossil fuel demand when hydro failed, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Hydroelectric generation in the Pacific Northwest fluctuates throughout the year and usually peaks during the spring when the winter accumulation of snowpack melts, filling the reservoirs that power hydroelectric plants.