Report: Dam upgrade for salmon may save money

The Associated Press

March 13, 2007

GRANTS PASS -- PacifiCorp told federal dam regulators Monday that it might save money by upgrading four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to protect salmon, contrary to a report that estimated it made economic sense to remove the dams.

In a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Portland-based utility said it had commissioned a review of a report done for the California Energy Commission by M. Cubed consultants of Davis, Calif., which had found PacifiCorp could save $101 million by removing the dams and buying replacement power.

Christensen Associates Energy Consulting, LLC, of Madison, Wis., found problems with the economic model used to make the initial estimate, as well the data fed into the model.

But when data fed into it was corrected, the model came up with an estimate that PacifiCorp would save $46 million by upgrading the dams and continuing to operate them, Christensen Associates Vice President Dan Hansen said.