Water you waiting for?

The past, present, and future of hydropower

Your Coral writers are lifelong waterbugs; One of us grew up sailing in Maine and Florida, the other’s favorite summer activity involves falling off paddle boards into Lake Washington. We’re both experienced PNW hikers, much of which involves crossing rivers and skirting over dams. It was amusing and embarrassing when a recent walk along the Deschutes river led to us arguing over the purpose of a nearby dam. 

“Oh it’s probably for storm water runoff, or something like that.”

“Could be to create a pool for fishing or to drop tubes in?” 

Two thoughts; It was a hydroelectric dam, because of course it was, and I’m absolutely not going to tell you which of us was more wrong.

First, a little history on hydropower

Hydroelectric power is an odd duck in the United States renewable energy landscape. It’s the oldest renewable energy source in operation and the second largest generator of renewable power (after wind), at approximately 6.2% of all electricity, and 28% of renewable energy, per the US Department of Energy. 

It’s also controversial. Sometimes deservedly, given the substantial impact of dams on surrounding ecosystems, and sometimes not, as in the Massachusetts-led initiative to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid. As a result of these controversies and the usual regulatory red tape, hydropower in the US is outdated. Of the 10 largest hydroelectric facilities in the US, the newest was opened in 1985, and most of the top 10 between 1955-1980. The Hoover Dam, opened in 1936, is still the 6th largest hydroelectric generation facility in operation. 

The Massachusetts-led hydropower initiative is mired in fake controversies by fossil-fuel back lobbying groups. Special congratulations to fossil-fuel lobbyists, who are both ethically bankrupt & better at their jobs than anyone has a right to be at anything 

It’s worth noting that, in other countries, hydroelectric power is a primary resource and the recipient of most government and private sector funding. River-rich territories Quebec and Norway both receive ~95% of annual energy consumption from hydropower, and are significant net energy exporters, to their considerable economic benefit. The US, while lacking in many of these geographic advantages, could do much better than it has. The DOE estimates 30-50 kWh of untapped hydroelectric potential at existing dam sites, and considerably more as on-demand hydropower batteries. 

Wait, hydropower batteries? 

We’re referring to hydroelectric power in the sense of capturing grid-scale electricity from moving water. A broader, and also interesting use of hydropower is to provide grid backstops in the form of giant batteries. Basically, water is held in a reservoir on top of a hill. When needed, the site opens a sluice gate, which allows the water to travel downhill through a pipe or artificial waterway, which turns a turbine and makes power. At times of high availability, the water is pumped back uphill to wait for the next emergency. Studies show that these battery sites don’t generate net-additive power (pumping a lot of water uphill ain’t easy), but do serve a valid and valuable role. 

What do we believe is next for hydropower? 

So there’s absolutely a need to update and maintain the existing US hydroelectric fleet, both with physical maintenance and modernized computer systems. While we certainly hope that this is followed by grid-level infrastructure projects to bring more dams online, and to source and build sites, we doubt it. The US appetite for large infrastructure is generally low, and activist voter groups like the ones who torpedoed the New England project are increasingly active. 

Instead, Coral sees the most potential growth for this renewable in lower cost, capacity, and impact versions of hydroelectric technology. Startups, including Bend, OR based BladeRunner Energy, and Belgium based Turbulent, offer modular hydroelectric plants, marketed towards consumers, installed in less than a month (BladeRunner is one person, one day), and suitable for powering something between a few appliances and a few homes. 

It will not surprise you that the US electric grid is increasingly unreliable, with the average consumer experiencing over 8 hours of electrical outage annually, and over 49 hours in the gulf coastal states of Alabama and Louisiana, per the Energy Information Administration. The largest causes of outage are weather-related, with significant events largely driven by hurricanes and wildfires. These disasters tend to strike states with a high degree of suitability for consumer-level hydroelectric; Mountainous, forested states like Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, and states in the aforementioned Gulf region. 

Our suggestion, therefore, for any readers considering where to deploy their talents, and capital, is this; Start and fund companies selling consumer hydroelectric units into states with a lot of natural disasters. It’s a grid backstop, can save lives and bring peace of mind. Convince a forward-thinking insurance company to lower the premiums on riverfront real estate in exchange for evidence that the homeowner can keep their basement pumps running through any event. 

There will undoubtedly be political backlash for a company that attempts this model; Most waterfront property is owned by the wealthy, who are also able to afford the additional equipment (solar panels, powerwalls, satellite internet, etc) to create a fully off-the-grid compound. The headlines more or less write themselves. We see a few avenues to alleviate these concerns. First, all consumer hydro units need to be metered, with an established percentage of energy going to stabilize the local grid rather than be consumed onsite. These are community resources located on private land, and there’s ample precedent in land leases used for cell phone towers in how said contracts can be structured. Second, any company selling such products provides units, either as a donation or by selling at cost, to locally based emergency-services teams. There’s immense community value in ensuring that hospitals, and field shelters keep their lights on. 

One assumes that this will not be our most popular post; “Let’s make more mini power plants, which will start mostly being available to wealthy private citizens,” is admittedly a heck of a pitch. We write Coral from the perspective of capitalists, practicalists, and idealists, in roughly that order. It’s well established that many technologies start as premium products and become more broadly available with economies of scale + time (the auto industry is the best case study of this phenomena), that the grid is becoming less stable and modular backstops are a good thing, and that we all need to adjust to the changes in living conditions brought by climate change. Hydroelectric has promise in helping us accomplish all of the above. 

If you enjoy this, check out our piece on fixing the climate capital stack.