By Ted Case
Oregonians are outraged with the state of Oregon’s plan to increase electricity costs and the risk of blackouts—while also relying more on fossil fuels.
The Columbia River System Operations litigation is 1 of the longest-running and most consequential energy and environmental cases affecting the Pacific Northwest. The state of Oregon has sought significant operational changes to the federal dams that are part of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
At its core, the case, which is under appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, will determine how the federal hydropower system is operated—and whether the region can continue to rely on it as a foundation for affordable, reliable, and carbon-free electricity.
The primary action is spilling more water over dams instead of through turbines, which means less power generation during critical periods when hydropower is needed most.
Over the past several months, Oregonians for Affordable Hydropower— a coalition of consumer-owned utilities representing more than 1 million of the state’s residents—has conducted a public education campaign about the consequences of increasing spill. Oregonians are not pleased with what they are learning about the higher costs, increased risk to reliability, and increases in greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of that education campaign, nearly 5,000 state residents have sent letters to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek defending the federal hydropower system and urging the state to prioritize energy affordability at a time when cash-strapped families often must choose between paying utility bills and buying food.
Salem Electric General Manager Tony Schacher recently joined 2 public utility district leaders on the opinion page of The Oregonian to warn that Oregon’s 2026 cost of living report reveals 73% of Oregonians have cut back on their spending to afford food. Schacher and the PUD managers also shared that Bonneville Power Administration calculated Oregon’s action will increase electricity bills at the utility level by another 6% to 7%.
BPA, which is expected to publish an official rate case in the Federal Register, has estimated the litigation will bring Northwest families and businesses $100,000,000 to $125,000,000 a year in additional costs for at least 3 years.
3 Lane County utility managers— Blachly-Lane Electric Cooperative’s Jeff Jones, Lane Electric Cooperative’s Scott Coe and Emerald PUD’s Kyle Roadman— wrote in Lookout (Eugene-Springfield) that Oregon’s position has far-reaching implications beyond price. It will also put the reliability of the electric grid at risk and harm the environment.
“When hydropower isn’t available, the Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies every consumer-owned utility in the state, must replace it with power purchased on the open market,” the managers wrote. “That power is typically much more expensive, and it’s often generated by burning fossil fuels.”
They also expressed concern about the hottest summer days “when thousands of air conditioners switch on at once, and every utility in the West is competing for the same replacement power. When demand spikes, open-market prices rise dramatically, and the risk of a blackout is higher.”
The theory behind the lawsuit was that more spill would help young salmon migrate to the ocean. But untested spill levels appear to be doing real harm this year to adult salmon swimming home to spawn.
According to the Public Power Council, tracking data at Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake River showed adult salmon returns slowing to worrying levels under the new spill regime, forcing federal dam managers to step in and adjust operations just to keep fish moving.
Then it happened again, at John Day Dam on the Columbia River. After about 2 months of continuous, near-maximum spill, adult Chinook passage counts fell sharply, from an average of roughly 2,200 fish a day to fewer than 500. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut spill back to 40% for 3 days as an emergency measure, adult Chinook counts rebounded to well over 1,000 a day.
In its testimony in U.S. District Court, PPC called the spill regime untested and experimental.
“Thus, it is unsurprising that it is having unintended impacts on salmon,” PPC wrote in a May 27, 2026, press release.
Oregonians for Affordable Hydropower has held that salmon recovery and reliable, affordable power don’t have to be at odds. But that requires operating decisions made through collaborative discussions, not via courtroom mandates.
As Schacher and his co-authors remarked in the close of their Oregonian letter: “Hydropower and salmon can coexist. But Gov. Kotek chose litigation over collaboration, a choice that does not produce enduring solutions.”
