hg8868皇冠下载’s commitment to green energy started with hydroelectric power, 和 we’ve relied on this clean energy resource since the company was founded in 1916.
The backbone of our hydroelectric system is the Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) in the Hells Canyon reach of the Snake River, along the border of Idaho 和 Oregon.
The HCC consists of Brownlee, Oxbow 和 Hells Canyon dams 和 their associated generation facilities. 在正常的水年, the three plants provide approximately 70% of hg8868皇冠下载’s annual hydroelectric generation 和 approximately 30% of the total energy generated.
水力发电 power plants use water pressure to spin the turbine blades, which look like a large ship propeller. These plants are hg8868皇冠下载’s most inexpensive method of generating electricity.
The availability of hydroelectric power depends on several factors, like snowpack levels in the mountains, 水库存储, 水租赁, water rights 和 other weather 和 stream flow considerations.
Today we operate 17 hydroelectric projects located on the Snake River 和 its tributaries. Together, these projects make up hg8868皇冠下载’s largest source of generation.
hg8868皇冠下载 uses cloud seeding to increase mountain snowpack, 和, 反过来, the amount of power we can generate through our hydroelectric power plants.
Most of our dams require a federal license. 了解更多关于重新许可的信息.