My colleague William Pentland writes about another consequence of excess hydropower: wind farms in the Pacific Northwest are being forced to disconnect from the power grid out of concern their added electrons with overload the system.

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One example he points to is the Bonneville Power Authority in the Pacific Northwest, which he said could increase the wind share of its generation portfolio from 20% to 40% within several years.

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Grid operators in the Pacific Northwest have repeatedly pulled the plug on several large wind farms in Oregon and Washington State, collectively curtailing roughly 13 gigawatt hours (GWh) of wind power since last Wednesday.

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Officials say the wind power will help fill gaps in the power exchange between the Pacific Northwest and energy-strapped California.

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