The Energy Economy of the Future

By Kris Polly

In our cover story this month, we interview Katie Bartojay, the director of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Denver-based Technical Service Center. We hear about the center’s unique capabilities, expansive remit, and recent work—as well as its mission to help Reclamation “stay competitive in the future energy economy” through innovation, excellence, and the tactical use of resources.

Next, we speak with Matt Feier of the Gunnison County Electric Association, a rural Colorado electric cooperative. The association recently installed a small-scale hydro project at a remote and remarkably challenging dam site in the Rockies—a triumph of both renewable energy and site-specific planning.

Greg Taylor is the Willamette Valley supervisory fisheries biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In our conversation with him, we hear about the Army Corps’ water management and fish protection work, including the new fish collection facility at Foster Dam, and learn about how hydropower—perhaps surprisingly—is “a key tool for managing fish populations.”

Then, we speak with Bree Wilson, the vice president of development at Rye Development, about plans for the Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project, which will occupy the site of a former mine in eastern Kentucky, providing energy storage and an anchor for economic redevelopment in the area.

After that, we turn to a fascinating and unexpected use case for hydropower: bitcoin mining and other data center applications. Andrew Webber, the CEO of Digital Power Optimization, explains how such applications can help preserve the profitability of small hydro facilities and keep power generation capacity online, ready to kick in whenever the grid is under stress.

Public safety is of paramount importance at hydropower facilities and other waterside installations. Glasdon’s Guardian life ring cabinets are one good way for facility owners to ensure that safety equipment is kept ready at hand and in good condition. We speak with J.D. Villegas, the vice president of sales at Glasdon Inc., about this and other product lines.

Finally, we speak with Lisa Jacobson, the president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, about the organization’s work informing energy policy at the federal level and its long-standing partnership with hydropower.

This month’s stories show how hydro is adapting to the energy economy of the future by deploying to unusual sites and serving purposes that go beyond simply generating for the grid. By powering nonpowered dams, providing fish management benefits, redeveloping brownfield sites in industrial areas, or integrating with data centers, the industry is becoming more nimble and responsive to the changes in society around it.

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.