PUD, college to host talk on future of hydropower

Sep 26 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Christine Pratt The Wenatchee World, Wash.

Want to glimpse into the future of hydropower and the factors that threaten our cheap rates?

The Chelan County PUD and Wenatchee Valley College will host a free discussionwith PUD General Manager John Janney and visiting speaker Craig Gannett, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in energy and natural resources.

Topics will include energy costs, national energy policy, the impacts of solar and wind power, fisheries and what's ahead for the U.S.' joint operation with Canada of the Columbia River.

The speakers will share their perspectives and take questions from the audience, a PUD news release said.

The talk is part of a series of events that the PUD has hosted this year to celebrate its 75th anniversary. It also comes during Public Power Week, Oct. 2 to 8.

Gannett works on energy and natural resources issues regionally and nationally from his Seattle base with national law firm Davis Wright Tremaine.

He's a frequent lecturer on climate change policy and hydropower relicensing and is a former senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Gannett also teaches Climate Change Law and Policy at the University of Washington's School of Law, and U.S. Energy Policy at the university's Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

The discussion starts at 7 p.m. at Van Tassell Center, which is near the fountain on the Wenatchee Valley College campus.

Christine Pratt: 665-1173

pratt@wenatcheeworld.com