A larger than normal spring runoff from snow-packed mountains in the Pacific Northwest has left the region with a surplus of hydroelectric power from the Columbia Basin's dams, causing the area's power grid operator to slash wind and thermal power, including almost all the region's gas-fired capacity. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which manages a large amount of the power grid in the Northwest, said that in these types of conditions, in which vast amounts of water cause hydroelectric damns to generate copious amounts of electricity and reducing dam output would send more water through dam spillways, adding dissolved gases that could harm fish.
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