Tag Archives: Klamath

Decommissioning Klamath River dams comes to fruition

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In 2006, M.Cubed prepared a report for the California Energy Commission that showed PacifiCorp, owner of the four dams on the Klamath River, would be financially indifferent between decommissioning or relicensing the projects with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That conclusion has since been reinforced by a 75% decline in replacement renewable power costs since then. That study opened the door for all parties to negotiate an agreement in 2010 to move forward with decommissioning.

In 2015, I wrote here about how that agreement was in peril. I tracked the progress of the situation in the comments in that post.

Fortunately, those hurdles were overcome and the decommissioning began this year in 2023. Copco 2 has now been completely removed and the project is moving on to the next dam.

After all four dams are taken we can see how successful this approach might be in restoring rivers on the West Coast.

This is the initial report on the economics of decommissioning versus relicense conducted for the California Energy Commission.

An economically attractive environmental solution in peril

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The agreement to take down PacifiCorp’s dams on the Klamath River is in peril. In 2006 we showed in a study funded by the California Energy Commission that decommissioning the dams would likely cost PacifiCorps ratepayers about the same as relicensing. That mitigated the economic argument and opened up the negotiations among the power company, farmers, tribes, environmentalists and government agencies to came to an agreement in 2010 to start decommissioning by 2020.

The agreement required Congress to act by the end of 2015 and that deadline is looming. Unfortunately, there are still opponents who mistakenly believe that the project’s hydropower is cheaper than the alternatives. In fact, the economics are even more favorable today whether PacifiCorp uses natural gas or renewables to replace the lost power. And this analysis ignores the benefits to the Klamath fisheries from decommissioning. It’s too bad that bad simplistic economics can still get traction in the legislative process.