Power shortages, rolling brownouts and blackouts? In the Pacific Northwest?

One regional utility alone – Avista – had brownouts that affected 15,307 ratepayers last Monday, 6,793 last Tuesday and another 602 last Wednesday. Other utilities, too, had brownouts.

I know we’ve had a day or two of record-setting high temperatures. But that’s not an excuse to shut down power to residents and businesses here in Eastern Washington.

Columbia River basin dams generate roughly 44% of electricity in the entire United States. Our dams provide power to much of the West Coast, including California...