The Full Spectrum of Hydro

By Kris Polly

Dawson Construction’s Alaska Division has the expertise and experience to execute major projects in remote, difficult-to-reach areas of our nation’s largest state. In our cover story this month, we speak with Jon Pulver, director of the Alaska Division, about Dawson’s successful work on the Whitman Lake Dam near Ketchikan. We also dig into topics such as the skills needed to work in harsh environments, the benefits of flexible and alternative procurement methods, and workforce training and retention.

Next, we speak with Jillian Lawrence, the chief operating officer at Confluence Hydro, a portfolio company of Hull Street Energy. Hull Street is a private equity firm that is active in the energy space and has a “primary focus” on hydropower, which it views as an “exceptional yet underappreciated resource.” With dozens of hydro facilities already in the Hull Street portfolio, Confluence Hydro is now planning to purchase 13 hydroelectric dams in Michigan. We discuss investment, relicensing, workforce continuity, community engagement, innovation, and other top issues for hydropower owners and operators. Then, we interview Phil Armstrong, the manager of power supply for Holy Cross Energy, a nonprofit electric cooperative in western Colorado. Drawing power from hydro installations such as the Vinelands Hydropower Plant, which came online in 2022, Holy Cross is advancing toward the board-established goal of reaching a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio by 2030, all while saving members money.

Our next interview is with Brian Carroll, the operations manager for the utilities of the Village of Gresham, Wisconsin. Two small run-of-river hydro plants produce up to 22 percent of the village’s power. We talk about the maintenance and licensing needs of the plants as well as their numerous benefits for the central Wisconsin community.

We end with a discussion that combines two hot topics in the hydropower and energy world: pumped storage and data centers. The National Hydropower Association’s new report, Winning the AI Race: Tapping into Pumped Storage Hydropower, argues that pumped storage hydro is the perfect complement to the energy-hungry data centers that are planned to come online across the West. We discuss the report and its findings with Connor Nelson, the association’s manager of regulatory affairs and markets.

Featuring a construction company, an investor, an electric cooperative, a utility, and a trade association, our articles this month cover a full spectrum of the hydropower industry. With legacy projects dating back decades, new hydropower facilities that have only been online for several years, and many more planned to help meet the energy needs of the future, the industry is impressively diverse. We hope you enjoy reading this month about the many players in the exciting world of hydro.

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.