For farmers in Central Washington with large water demands, the energy savings from new pumps are helping to keep their electric bills low. The savings are a result of a partnership between the Bonneville Power Administration, Okanogan County PUD and the Okanogan Irrigation District.
The Okanogan Irrigation District replaced three out of four pumps at its Shellrock project, which pumps water to more than 1,000 local irrigators. The new pumps contain stainless steel parts instead of bronze, which will last longer. The project was also cost-efficient - the original pumps from 1979 needed replacing and rebuilding them would cost more than purchasing new ones.
The project earned the irrigation district an energy efficiency incentive check of more than $87,000 through the PUD. The incentive check will help the district fund future irrigation upgrades, including the purchase of new motors to replace the older motors running the pumps.
With the new energy efficient pumps in place, the district's electric bill dropped nearly in half from an average of $1,200-1,400 per day to $700-800 per day. This equates to 920,589 kilowatt-hours of electricity savings, or enough to power more than 54 homes annually.
The energy and maintenance savings will help to keep irrigation rates low for the district's 1,020 accounts representing more than 5,000 acres of farmland, about the size of 4,000 football fields.
The PUD manages energy efficiency incentive programs through funding by BPA, a major source of its electricity. When Northwest utilities partner with their customers like Okanogan Irrigation District to implement energy efficiency projects, they avoid expensive energy purchases from sources that might not be as low-carbon as the Federal Columbia River Power System. These projects also help keep electricity rates low for end users.
Energy efficiency is the cheapest resource to meet growing demands for power, since it's much less expensive than building new renewable energy power plants.
For more information, see the "Okanogan Irrigation District Saves at Shellrock Pump Station" poster.
About Energy Efficiency
Saving electricity through energy efficiency means that the existing energy produced in the Northwest can be stretched further. This is especially important as more people move to the region, electrification expands and state clean energy requirements kick in. Conserving energy helps BPA avoid purchasing additional power to meet increasing demand. Since 1982, BPA has saved more than 2,500 aMW of energy through conservation and energy efficiency, the equivalent power production of 2.5 nuclear reactors the size of Columbia Generation Station. Saving energy means saving money for BPA customers and their ratepayers. www.bpa.gov/ee
For more information
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