KALISPELL - The region's largest wholesaler of electrical power, the Bonneville Power Administration, is plugging into a new wind-energy project.
It's part of a multi-year plan to substantially increase wind's contribution to the grid.
BPA is the quasi-governmental agency that markets power produced at 31 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin.
The wind project is located in Wasco, Oregon, on a field owned by PPM Energy, called Klondike Wind Power III, the project adds a full 25% to BPA's existing renewable wind supply. It takes the agency's capacity from 207 megawatts to 257 megawatts.
That remains a small fraction of BPA's total energy output, but a 20-year regional plan calls for adding 5,000 or more megawatts of wind in coming years. Analysts say that would make wind a major player in meeting future electricity demand throughout the Pacific Northwest.