Energy Northwest outlines plan to boost Columbia Generating Station output by about 12.5%

Rick Garcia, licensing supervisor at Energy Northwest, described a multi‑year extended power upgrade (EPU) for the Columbia Generating Station during the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s July 15 meeting. "For the record, my name is Rick Garcia," he said before outlining the plan, which would raise the unit’s authorized output by about 12.5 percent and bring net electric output to roughly 1,380 megawatts after the 2031 refueling outage.

Garcia said the EPU is being staged across several refueling outages so the plant can be modified and remain in service during the work. "We decided to split that out over three refueling outages," he said, adding the extra megawatts are expected to come online in June 2031. He described the EPU as a mix of plant modifications — larger pumps, condensate-treatment capacity, generator upsizing — and project-level implementation that will not be operated into the new regulatory basis until federal and state approvals are complete.

Why it matters: Columbia is one of the state’s non‑carbon‑emitting generation sources. Garcia framed the upgrade as part of meeting regional demand and the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act goals. "We're going to have over a decade of putting additional non‑carbon emitting power on the grid," he said.

Regulatory and grid coordination: Garcia outlined the federal approval path, saying Energy Northwest will file a license amendment request with the NRC under 10 CFR Part 50.9; after an acceptance review the NRC typically undertakes a 12‑month detailed review that may include audits and formal requests for additional information. Garcia said he expects state consultation to be sequenced so FSEC’s review can be recorded in the NRC safety evaluation report.

On grid interconnection, Garcia said Energy Northwest is coordinating with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) cluster studies to confirm the transmission system can accept the extra output. He warned that some proposals in cluster studies fall away as economics or technical feasibility change, but stressed the Columbia project benefits from existing on‑site infrastructure.

Environmental and water issues: Garcia detailed the systems most likely to touch environmental permits — cooling towers, standby service water ponds and plant service water systems — and said most changes are internal plant upgrades. He provided preliminary numbers for river makeup flow: "Preliminary studies estimate makeup flow from the river will increase from about 15,000 gallons per minute to 17,000 gallons per minute," which he characterized as "not a substantial change, but an actual change in numbers." He also said wastewater discharge and blowdown temperature are expected to increase slightly but remain within the existing NPDES permit; staff have begun conversations about permit renewal to capture interim higher‑power operation.

Tribal consultation and schedule: When asked about tribal consultation, Energy Northwest staff said BPA’s NEPA process will include tribal consultation and that Energy Northwest has also initiated outreach, including socializing the concept with tribal representatives. Garcia said formal regulatory submittals are planned to begin in mid‑2028 with a goal of completing federal approvals by late 2030 to allow use of the modifications after the 2031 outage.

What’s next: Energy Northwest and FSEC staff will continue engagement. Council members asked for continued visibility on Bonneville grid studies and state consultation steps; Garcia said Energy Northwest welcomed further conversations and site tours during refueling outages.

Ending: The council moved to other project updates after roughly an hour of technical briefing and Q&A; no formal council action on the Columbia EPU was recorded at this meeting.