I had a chance to witness some electric power history while in Spokane WA last week. I was in town for an Avista workshop on HVAC Chillers and enjoyed the reminders of power supply around town. Featured here is a the 10 MW hydro Upper Falls Power Plant (circa 1922, still in use) and the Steam Plant (1916-1986), which is now a brewery. To put these in context, the 10 MW plant would meet the demand of 300,000 square feet of indoor grow facilities, or about 20% of the indoor canopy in Washington State. Seeing the power generating sources up close reminds me of the connection between our work in the Energy Efficiency world, and how our successes displace the long-term need to build new power generation.
Upper Falls Power Plant
Steam Plant
