Dam Design and Construction

Removing the Lower Snake River dams would cost Washington State $34.3 billion

Removing the Lower Snake River dams would cost Washington State $34.3 billion

The proposal to remove the four dams and hydropower projects on the Lower Snake River in Washington State would cost the state $34.3 billion and force electricity customers to pay an additional $330 per year on average through 2050.

This is the conclusion of a joint report from think tanks the Washington Policy Center and Center of the American Experiment.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates four run-of-river dams and locks on the lower Snake River in Washington that together provide 1,000 average MW of capacity and up to 3,033 MW of capacity at their peak. The dams, constructed between 1955 and 1961, are Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite. Construction and operation of the dams altered the physical, chemical, hydrological and biological processes in the river, and all species of salmon that use the Snake River are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. With salmon being “central to culture and wellbeing in tribal nations throughout the Pacific Northwest,” there have been discussions about breaching the dams.

The joint report details how replacing the four dams with wind, solar and battery storage would cost Washington State $34.3 billion and force electricity customers to pay an additional $330 per year, on average, through 2050.

Proposals to remove the four Lower Snake River dams to aid in salmon recovery efforts would remove affordable, carbon-free electricity generators in a state that wants to electrify its home heating and transportation sectors. In all likelihood, destroying the dams would increase Washington’s reliance on natural gas, according to the report.

These proposals received a boost when Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee and U.S. Senator Patty Murray released their joint recommendations stating that salmon and other species in Washington state face a dire future that is in part due to the existence of the Lower Snake River dams.

“The original New Deal was very green, because it led to the construction of Washington’s Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams,” said American Experiment policy fellow Isaac Orr. “Tearing these dams down is a senseless destruction of critical infrastructure that will increase electricity costs for everyone.”

Click here to view the 36-page report.