Quick Facts - OPALCO

Our Energy Future

Quick Facts related to the future of energy and how members can prepare

Quick Fact – OPALCO’s Plan for our Energy Future

Climate change is transforming our world. OPALCO has a smart plan for our energy future – and it depends each of us doing our part! Our energy world is changing rapidly. Say goodbye to fossil fuels (propane, natural gas, gasoline, wood, oil). OPALCO has a plan to meet the new challenges. It’s going to be a heavy lift, but we ...

Quick Facts – Decarbonization – Part 4

Energy Shortages: This is a four-part series looking at how climate impact is rapidly changing our world and the coming challenges as we make the transition to a future that is climate sustainable. Increasing load, reduced capacity Decarbonizing energy generation and consumption must be accomplished as quickly as possible. But the increase in electric load and decrease in capacity to ...

Quick Fact – Decarbonization – Part 3

Energy Consumption: This is a four-part series looking at how climate impact is rapidly changing our world and the coming challenges as we make the transition to a future that is climate sustainable. Transportation and Heating Washington state is leading the way in decarbonizing the two largest uses of energy in a typical home: Fossil-fueled transportation (gasoline, diesel) Heating (propane, ...

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Member programs

Find info on programs for OPALCO members

Quick Fact – OPALCO election process

OPALCO’s Board of Director election is a cornerstone of Co-op Democracy. OPALCO depends on an independent member Elections & Governance Committee to cultivate quality candidates and review election processes and policy. OPALCO works with a third party election vendor to ensure a secure and fair election. OPALCO’s bylaws prescribe the complete elections process, including nominations, qualifications, public notification and timelines. ...

Quick Fact – Switch It Up!

Switch It Up! is OPALCO’s beneficial electrification program that saves members money. OPALCO’s Switch It Up! Program is an example of Beneficial Electrification. OPALCO is encouraging the use of efficient electrical technologies for heating, transportation, and water heating instead of fossil fuels or other ineffiecient appliances for the benefit of the environment while saving members money and improving the overall ...

Quick Fact – OPALCO Rates

OPALCO keeps rates as low as possible by controlling expenses and pricing electricity at the cost of service. Households who struggle to pay their bills are served by several energy assistance programs (including special assistance for those members affected by COVID-19) designed to keep power affordable for all members. Despite the higher cost to supply power to 20 rural, remote ...

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Co-op Governance

The ins and outs of how the co-op works

Quick Fact – National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (NRECA)

NRECA supports our local co-op and our employees to better serve our membership. NRECA is focused on promoting, supporting and protecting the community and business interests of electric cooperatives as they power communities and empower members to improve their quality of life. NRECA works with member-cooperatives to anticipate, shape and respond to changes in technology, law and public policy and ...

Quick Fact – OPALCO election process

OPALCO’s Board of Director election is a cornerstone of Co-op Democracy. OPALCO depends on an independent member Elections & Governance Committee to cultivate quality candidates and review election processes and policy. OPALCO works with a third party election vendor to ensure a secure and fair election. OPALCO’s bylaws prescribe the complete elections process, including nominations, qualifications, public notification and timelines. ...

Quick Fact – OPALCO Debt and Capital Projects

OPALCO’s debt is healthy and well managed. Debt is how co-ops finance growth and capital projects. In 2019, OPALCO came to the end of a period of intensive capital projects that pushed the debt ratio up higher. This is the pattern over the decades:1) build equity for capital projects, 2) borrowing and construction, 3) pay loans off over 30 years, ...

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Regional Issues

Regional issues affect our island communities

Quick Fact – Land for Renewable Energy Projects

The Essential Ingredient for Local Energy Resilience The Climate Emergency and Decarbonization The climate emergency is accelerating. Washington state has taken the lead in decarbonizing the state by rapidly reducing fossil fuel emissions, especially from driving and heating. Decarbonization will nearly double demand for electricity, while reducing TOTAL energy demand by 28% (see chart at left). The Washington Clean Energy ...

Quick Fact – Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC)

OPALCO is a member of PNGC to ensure a reliable, aordable, clean power supply for a sustainable now and generations to come. OPALCO joined PNGC to build a sustainable, healthy energy future for our island communities. The energy world is changing dramatically as it transitions away from carbon. With PNGC, our options for contracting with power suppliers are greater; we ...

Quick Fact – Decarbonization – Part 1

This is a four-part series looking at how climate impact is rapidly changing our world and the coming challenges as we make the transition to a future that is climate sustainable. Carbon emissions have jumped over 30% during the last 100 years, compared to the worst peak in the previous 400,000 years. The accelerating impact of climate change makes carbon ...

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Renewables

Renewable energy is the future!

Quick Fact: Decatur Island Battery Storage Project

The microgrid that OPALCO built on Decatur Island includes a battery storage project paired with a Community Solar Array. The project can operate independently from the electrical grid. This is the first of many microgrids OPALCO envisions to build greater local energy resilience for our remote island communities. The project provides valuable cost-saving and efficiency benefits including: demand charge reduction ...

Quick Fact: Why Hydropower is Important to our Power Supply

Hydro is one of the cleanest and lowest-cost forms of energy, cleaner even than solar and wind power. This makes it an essential resource for fighting climate change through decarbonization, especially as transportation – which accounts for ~40% of greenhouse gas emissions – shifts to electricity. About 86% of OPALCO’s energy comes from hydro, supplied from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) ...

Quick Fact – Decarbonization – Part 1

This is a four-part series looking at how climate impact is rapidly changing our world and the coming challenges as we make the transition to a future that is climate sustainable. Carbon emissions have jumped over 30% during the last 100 years, compared to the worst peak in the previous 400,000 years. The accelerating impact of climate change makes carbon ...

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