Drought in US Northwest Prompts Energy Agency to Cut Hydropower Forecast

(Bloomberg) -- Lingering drought in northwestern US have caused the US Energy Information Administration to cut its hydroelectric power forecast for the year.

It’s likely there will be 6% less electricity generated by US hydroelectric plants due to lower water supply, the agency said Thursday in a statement. About a half of the country’s hydropower is generated in the Northwest, and the EIA said  it expects 19% less generation from the region this year than in 2022.

Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington, along with neighboring Idaho and Montana, have been gripped by widespread drought conditions for months. More than 75% of Washington is in drought, with just over 54% of Oregon in the same condition, according to the US Drought Monitor. The dry conditions have been plaguing the Northwest for more than a year.

The impact of decreased hydropower generation in the Northwest is offset by higher-than-expected generation in California, where record-breaking winter precipitation filled reservoirs and left a deep snowpack across the state’s Sierra Nevada, EIA said. The agency expects 99% more hydropower generation in California this year compared with 2022.

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