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Mix of Energy Resources a Breath of Fresh Air

by Joel Myer

Mason County Public Utility District (PUD) Number 3 customers can breathe a little easier because of an excellent mix of non-polluting sources of energy that go into their supply of electricity.

Each year, as required by Washington State law, PUD 3 conducts a study of the sources of wholesale energy purchased for its customers. Eighty-six percent of the wholesale electricity purchased by the PUD comes from renewable sources, such as hydroelectric, wind, biomass and landfill gas generators. Just over ten percent comes from the Columbia Generating Station, a nuclear power plant in south-central Washington.

According to the study, only 3.6 percent of PUD 3 electricity comes from fossil fuel plants.

Public utilities in general tend to have a much cleaner mix of energy sources than other power providers in the Pacific Northwest. Of the utilities in Washington State that are subject to the renewable energy initative (I-937), public utilities have a very small percentage of their fuel mix in fossil fuel plants. The fuel mix for these 14 public utilities averages about three percent each from coal and gas plants. For the four large investor-owned utilities, nearly 35% of their fuel mix includes coal and almost 12% natural gas for their energy.

A state-by-state inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from the federal Energy Information Administration indicates that on average, Washington State has 30% less emissions than the rest of the country. Much of this can be attributed to the large amount of hydroelectricity from the Columbia River system.

Note: Tables showing fuel mix percentages for specific utilities are available upon request.

Source information: Mason County PUD No. 3, power supply department; Washington State Department of Commerce, Energy Office, Olympia, WA; Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC.

Joel Myer is a PUD 3 public information officer.


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Updated 2015/01/07 21:14:22