Draft Sixth Power Plan Comment

Dear Mr. Walker, Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the NW Council's Draft Sixth Power Plan. While I applaud the Council for its aggressive energy efficiency targets, I think the plan could be much more assertive in reducing coal from our power mix. The Council's own analysis finds that it will be impossible to meet the state's 2050 75% CO2 reduction goal with coal in our power mix. Frankly, the 2050 goal is almost academic if we don't immediately begin charting a downward course and reduce C02 emissions in the next decade. To do that, we need coal out of our power mix immediately. Your own analysis stated that the removing coal from the power mix would have relatively small impacts on our rates. Our region is already blessed with low power rates - at the partial expense of the health of our salmon populations. A small cost in the short term pales in negative impact to the local and global cost of not aggressively reducing coal from our power mix. Sincerely, Stephen Hoyt-McBeth