Visions for the Future of Hydro 

By Kris Polly

In our cover story this month, we speak with David Merritt, the general manager of the Kings River Conservation District. The district is actively building a new hydro unit on an existing power plant that will not only add to its power production but also bypass cold water around the dam when needed. The project has been carried out with careful attention to the environment and the interconnection between water and power—issues that will only become more important. 

Our next conversation is with Jeremy Clotfelter, the power generation director at NorthWestern Energy, which operates a large variety of hydropower facilities across 10 power-producing dams. NorthWestern is focusing on growth, upgrades and rehabilitation, regulatory requirements, relicensing, and communications, all with a view toward setting its facilities up to run for another 100 years. 

After that, we speak with Jaron Brown and Evan Heitman, respectively the hydraulics lab manager and a junior staff engineer at Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, a globally active water resources engineering firm, about the company’s physical modeling capabilities and what they can deliver for dam and hydropower projects. 

Then, we turn to John Yale, a longtime hydro professional with experience both in private consulting and in a public utility district. Today, Mr. Yale promotes asset management and technological advances through his consultancy, Yale Engineering. He tells us about the exciting challenges of harnessing AI, machine learning, and digital twins to enhance and activate existing monitoring solutions, target specific problems, and preserve assets. We also speak about the need for a robust hydro workforce to sustain the industry in the future. 

Last, we speak with Thomas Øyvang, an associate professor and research leader at the University of South- Eastern Norway. He explains why Norway’s hydropower fleet—Europe’s largest—is a sleeping giant that has the potential to offer much more to a changing European grid. Operational upgrades can transform its facilities into superflexible nodes that can balance variable renewables and baseload nuclear power and offer ancillary services. 

By prudently adding new facilities, upgrading and rehabilitating existing ones, and making use of new technologies to operate and maintain them, hydropower owners and operators are ensuring that their fleets will be around for generations to come. The stories in this month’s magazine illustrate that crucially important work. 

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Hydro Leader magazine and the president and CEO of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.