Historic Drought Is Reducing Hydropower In The Pacific Northwest

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In the last 10 years, the United States has achieved an astounding transition to renewable energy, adding hundreds of terawatt-hours of renewable generation capacity and nearly doubling the share of electricity that is produced through renewable sources. But while wind and solar have soared, historic drought conditions have taken a toll on hydropower in some of the drier parts of the country.

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Nearly every state has attained a net increase in renewable energy generation since 2013. Only five states – Louisiana, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington – are producing less electricity from renewables than they were a decade ago.

The decline in renewables in Pacific Northwest states is largely due to extensive drought conditions in the Columbia River and the consequent reductions in hydropower generation capacity. In the last five years, there were only two weeks where Washington was completely drought-free, per data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. In an average week, 61.6% of the state was experiencing some level of drought. In Oregon, 81.8% of the state has been abnormally dry on average since November 2019.

Hydroelectric power plants need moving water to generate electricity. In Washington, net hydropower generation fell by 23.6 terawatt-hours from 2013 to 2023, the largest decline of any state. While the Evergreen State was able to add wind and solar in that time, renewables fell from 74.6% of total electricity production to 67.4%. In Oregon, renewables as a share of total electricity production fell from 67.7% to 60.3%.

Similar dry conditions have led to reduced hydropower in fast-warming countries around the world like China, India, Ecuador, and Turkey.