As power manager, Allen Barkley points out, his department wouldn’t exist without having power to manage. Unlike most public utility districts, Klickitat PUD not only consumes energy, but generates and markets power as well.

Currently, there is power being generated at three sites in Klickitat County – hydro-generation from McNary Fishway, Bio-Gas generation from the H.W. Hill Roosevelt Landfill Gas facility, and steam generation from SDS Lumber in Bingen. Generating the power is only the first step in the process, however.

KPUD lies within Bonneville Power’s control area, meaning that BPA is ultimately responsible for managing all of the generation in the area. All generators must coordinate on an hourly basis with BPA, and pre-schedule each hour, a day ahead of time.

This process is akin to forseeing the future, and just as risky. By 8 am each morning, Shirley Williams, the Power Scheduler, must predict how much power will be generated the following day, without knowing whether faulty equipment, power outages, weather problems or any other mishaps will occur.

Then generators in the county must attempt to generate power to that schedule. If there are differences between the predicted generation and the reality that day, the power management team has to “fill the holes” by calling on reserves in short-term situations (less than an hour) or working with The Energy Authority (TEA), the power agent, to purchase real-time power in hour-by-hour amounts. Penalties of thousands of dollars can be assessed if there is a lack of power.

A big part of the job is after-the-fact accounting, which is where Judy Packwood, Energy Services manager, plays part of her role. There are huge amounts of data produced each hour, including the amount of power to be generated, what actually was generated, how the differences were resolved, earnings or losses, and more.

The department's goal is to maximize the money made in each hour, minimize any losses, choose when to send power into the market, and when to use storage accounts. SDS has a storable fuel supply, so they try to time the power for maximum opportunities.

The team also includes Sharon Ohnstead, Energy Services Specialist.

Penalties are unavoidable. There are NO excuses that work, whether the phones were down, LFG was short on gas, or the power order did not get filled. The team is responsible, and they receive the penalties.

KPUD directly manages the H.W. Hill Landfill Gas Project, and employ the operators there. McNary is managed by Northern Wasco PUD under contract, and SDS manages their generation, while KPUD markets the output. The PUD is uniquely placed to handle the power, and has the contacts to sell on the open market, or to BPA. KPUD also purchases blocks of power to manage for a short time.

Allen's primary role is to manage contracts, interact with BPA, and meet with other utilities where the sales happen. There is a control area in the Grant/Chelan/Douglas county region, called “Mid-C” which Allen likened to the Chicago Mercantile - it’s where the power trading for the Northwest happens.

Long-term power prediction is also under the Power Management realm. Judy compiles a power requirements report for every two years, and works on the analyses of PUD power consumption and usage. Energy conservation is a factor for consumption, which is why Sharon administers conservation discounts through BPA, including the rebate programs for heat pumps, insulation, windows, duct sealing, washing machines, and soon-to-be-included solar panels. She also administers the loan program, where customers can borrow money at 4.9 percent for any measures which qualify for rebates, such as window replacement or duct sealing.