(The Center Square) – A little more than a year after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum revoking Biden administration actions that supported the removal of the four lower Snake River dams in Eastern Washington, the state’s Department of Commerce is accepting proposals to analyze the electricity resources needed to replace the energy provided by the dams, if they are someday removed.
“The study will identify the electricity generation, transmission, energy storage, energy efficiency and grid support services needed to maintain a reliable and resilient electric system while meeting Washington’s clean energy laws. It will also evaluate how these resources fit into the region’s future electricity needs as transportation, buildings and industry continue to transition away from fossil fuels,” according to the Commerce Request for Proposal.
Chris Cargill, president of Mountain State’s Policy Center penned an op-ed in response to the state still pushing the idea of removing the dams, despite the Trump pullback.
“Commerce isn’t asking whether removing the dams is wise. It’s asking how to replace them after they’re gone. That’s not an honest analysis. It’s an attempt to justify a predetermined political objective,” wrote Cargill.
In a Monday interview with The Center Square, Cargill said it’s a waste of taxpayer resources to do yet another study about removing the dams.
“Washington state can do all the studies that it wants. It can pass anything that it wants, but ultimately this decision will be made by the federal government. It essentially depends on the administration that is in place at any given time and what that administration feels it needs to do in regard to the dams,” Cargill said.
He said the dams are critical to the northwest power infrastructure.
“And in a time where we are looking under every couch cushion possible to see where we can get energy from, it is not a good idea to be removing the source of about 8 to 9% of the Northwest’s energy.”
“And not only is it energy, its clean energy. It’s energy that does not produce any carbon emissions. It’s energy that is very clean in terms of air quality,” Cargill said.
Amelia Lamb with the Washington Department of Commerce emailed The Center Square about the RFP put out last week, noting it was funded in the 2025-27 operating budget, using $800,000 from the Climate Commitment Act account.
“Provided solely for the department to contract with ((one or more of the western national laboratories, or a similar independent research organization, in consultation with state and federal energy agencies, stakeholders, and relevant utilities,)) an entity or firm with necessary expertise to conduct an analysis for new electricity generation, transmission, ancillary services, efficiency and storage sufficient to offset those ((presently)) provided by the lower Snake river dams,” read the line item in the budget.
The push to breach the dams focuses on restoring the natural river flow, with environmentalists and scientists arguing the dams prevent juvenile salmon from reaching the ocean and exhaust adult fish on their return.
Native American treaty rights are another concern. Some argue breaching them would honor treaties between the U.S. government and Pacific Northwest Indigenous tribes, allowing them to resume traditional fishing.
All four Lower Snake River dams (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite) have U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-designed adult fish ladders equipped with step-pool and vertical-slot designs to help returning adult salmon and steelhead bypass the structures.
“They try to blame fish issues on the dams, which, again, the research has shown that that’s just not the case. They just have this preconceived notion that dams are bad and that we should just replace the dams with wind and solar,” Cargill said.
He said it would it take a monumental effort to replace the clean energy produced by the dams with wind and solar.
“In order to replace all of the electricity that’s generated from these dams, we’re talking thousands and thousands of windmills or millions of acres of solar panels, and that is just not feasible. Even if it were feasible, you don’t have the battery infrastructure right now to be able to store all that energy,” he said.
According to a 2022 study from the Washington Policy Center, replacing that renewable hydropower with wind, solar and battery storage could cost $34.3 billion.
Those costs don’t account for the impacts on the wheat industry and others that rely on the dams as a transportation route across the state, as the Columbia-Snake River dam system is a vital marine highway, moving millions of tons of Washington agriculture to global markets.
“Imagine putting tens of thousands of new semi-trucks on the roads leading into the ports in Western Washington. Not only would that create a bunch more pollution in the air, but it would also create more traffic jams and would be much more costly to get our products to port,” said Cargill.
“By relying on the barges, we take all that stress off the roadways of Washington state. And by the way, we do it with zero emissions,” he added.
“Washington State can do all the same song and dance that it wants, but ultimately this decision will be made by the federal government,” said Cargill.