Northwest in excess

The Bonneville Power Administration’s power buyback scheme to tackle electricity shortages in the US Pacific Northwest in 2001 has worked rather too well. The region was left with bankrupt aluminium producers and a surplus of power that is not proving easy to shift, finds Joe Marsh

Three years ago, the US Pacific Northwest was sufferingfrom a major powershortage. But these days, the region – comprising Oregon, Washington, Idahoand southern British Columbia – is trying to work off a surplus of electricity,due to the legacy of its power buyback scheme and the shutdown of most of thealuminium smelters that fuelled the region’s economy.

The death of the region’s aluminium business has widely been attributedto the actions of a federal power marketing agency based in Portland