PR 41 09

 Media Advisory

This Wednesday, watch the first BPA regional wind meter get installed

Troutdale, Ore. - Why is the agency that sells electricity from the Federal Columbia River Power System installing 14 anemometers for wind turbines?  It’s part of a much larger plan to help bring more green energy into the region.  Forecasting Pacific Northwest weather can be challenging, but forecasting when the wind blows can be even more problematic.  These meters will help.

What:   Installation of BPA’s first anemometer designed to forecast wind energy
When:  10 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009
Where: 5201 NE Sundial Road, Troutdale, OR, 97060

Audio/visual opportunities:   Climbers scaling 100-foot tower to install anemometer, close-up of meteorological equipment, high-voltage transmission infrastructure, one-on-one interviews with experts in wind integration.  

More information to come Wednesday.

BPA is a not-for-profit federal electric utility that markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. The power is produced at 31 federal dams owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation and one nuclear plant in the Northwest and is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities. BPA purchases power from seven wind projects and has more than 2,000 megawatts of wind interconnected to its transmission system. BPA operates a high-voltage transmission grid comprising more than 15,000 miles of lines and associated substations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

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