Dam!

Class is in session! The second episode of our new sub-series of the regular Dam! podcast is here. Hydro 101 aims to provide you with a fundamental understanding of hydropower and how it interacts with energy and the environment–particularly in the Northwest. As the title suggests, this one is all about fish passage and the infrastructure that allows our scaly friends to migrate up and down river...

With the hiring of Northwest RiverPartner's newest executive director, Clark Mather, it was only a matter of time before we would introduce him to the Dam! podcast listeners. That time is now. You'll hear Clark describe his background, just how small the public power world really is, his views on the value of hydropower, and takes on the most relevant and pressing issues we face in 2024. T...

Dam! hit the road and headed to Seattle, Washington, to record this special episode on site at the 2024 US Society on Dams annual conference. We opened up the guest chair to anyone looking for their "15 minutes of fame" on the podcast, and the lineup did not disappoint. Listen in to hear from the likes of Jeremy Begley, Dr. Nathaniel Gee, and Dr. Robert Hall and enjoy their expert insigh...

Fears of drought, extreme weather, and a future full of uncertainty are not without reason. Climate change is front of mind for many, and reinforced by an onslaught of headlines and social media content. All of this begs the question, can our hydropower resources in the Northwest survive? If anyone is qualified to answer that question, it's Erik Pytlak, who manages weather and streamflow forec...

On this episode of Dam! , we're joined by Rebekah Anderson, senior manager of communications at Tacoma Public Utilities and author of The Grand Promise . Her award-winning fiction novel captures life during the construction of Grand Coulee dam and illustrates the positive and negative impacts that it had on nearby communities. Of course, you'll have to read the book for yourself to get the...

To know of hydropower and to love it go hand-in-hand. Today, the challenge is that less and less people actually know much about hydropower at all. The Foundation for Water & Energy Education, or FWEE for short, is tackling that challenge head on by bringing hydro to the classroom in creative and exciting ways. Sheila Corson, serving as acting the acting board chair, joins Dam! to share the im...

In January of 2024, a blanket of extreme cold and ice was cast over the Northwest. The winter storm presented many threats, and our grid was not immune to them. Despite extremely high energy demand, our abundance of hydropower ensured we never faced shortages and rolling blackouts. We reached out to the Bonneville Power Administration, who supplies that energy to public utilities across the region...

Clearwater Power's Bob Pierce is not just their COO–he's also the author of "Ask Bob." In this podcast, we ask Bob what "Ask Bob" is, how he got started answering questions from the community, and revisit some of his most popular questions over the years to get his take. As you'll hear, there's a Dam! good reason he's the guy to go to when you've got que...

Class is in session! "But hold on, what happened to my Dam! podcast?" Hey, no worries, Dam! isn't going anywhere. This week, we're releasing a special episode as part of a new sub-series of the regular podcast that aims to provide you with a fundamental understanding of hydropower and how it interacts with energy and the environment–particularly in the Northwest. That fundamental...

We're joined by Bree Mendlin, program director at the Hydropower Foundation, to discuss the various pathways and opportunities available to those interested in joining the waterpower workforce. Along the way, we take a deeper dive into the education efforts, STEM programs, competitions, and college clubs all helping guide students on their career journey, and hear about those who have successf...

What do the three subjects in the title of this podcast have in common? They're all important aspects of the work being done by Sean Simmons and Angler's Atlas. On this episode of Dam! , Sean explains Angler's Atlas, discusses the importance of citizen science, how the MyCatch app and angling tournaments are bringing in valuable fish data, and how he hopes to use similar methods with t...

In our final episode of the year, we introduce Dam! listeners to Northwest RiverPartners' new interim executive director, Heather Stebbings. Transitioning from her prior role with the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, Heather brings a wealth of knowledge about the lower Snake River dams issue to the table. We discuss her background, her plans as interim, and the continuity she hopes to...

We bid farewell to our executive director, Kurt Miller, on our 21st episode of Dam! On this one, Kurt shares the memories made and lessons learned leading Northwest RiverPartners, where he's headed and what he'll be up to next, and he shares incredibly valuable career and personal advice that you won't want to miss. Of course, there are plenty of laughs and good times along the way.

We welcome a very fitting guest to Dam! this week with Brenna Vaughn, executive director of the Northwest Hydroelectric Association–or NWHA. As you can imagine, we covered all things hydropower advocacy, education, the challenges and opportunities that hydro faces, and compared and contrasted the work of both organizations.

This very special episode of Dam! features Thomas McAndrew, founder, president, and CEO of Enchanted Rock, who flew in from Texas to join us in studio with his good friend Kurt Miller, executive director here at Northwest RiverPartners. We discuss the various microgrid solutions that Enchanted Rock provides, the benefits of renewable natural gas and how it works (at a fifth grade-ish level), the c...

Okay, maybe they don't like being called "little." You may know them better as small modular nuclear reactors, and they could just be the big breakthrough we need to reach our clean energy goals. Luckily, our friends and member, Energy Northwest, knows a thing or two about this topic and could educate us on all things nuclear. On this episode, Greg Cullen, vice president of energy se...

What's a microgrid? Why put it in a box? How does this all tie in to hydropower? These are all great questions you're probably asking, and to help answer them, we pulled together not one, but three expert guests for this special episode of Dam! To explain the project and how it works, Thomas Mosier and Kurt Myers from Idaho National Laboratory join the podcast. And, to gain a public power...

Dam! returns for another excellent episode with the Port of Lewiston's general manager, Scott Corbitt. Thanks to Scott, we get the full scoop on inland ports, barge transportation, the movement of agriculture products and goods on Marine Highway M-84, why the lower Snake River dams are essential, and so much more.

What is grid modernization? How does one go about it? Why do we need it in the first place? All great questions someone might ask if they were going to do a podcast with Bryce Yonker of Grid Forward. Luckily for you, this is that podcast, and we asked all of those questions, and more! Strap in and get ready to learn about smart meters and thermostats, demand response programs, how drones help util...

Billy Terry of Consumer's Power Inc. appears on this episode of Dam! to share his experience as chief operations officer before, during, and after wildfires scorched the community of Detroit Lake in Oregon. We dive into his utility background and getting his start in California, the changes he's witnessed to Northwest summers as a result of climate change, the work Consumer's did to pr...

We're joined on this episode by none other than Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of the National Hydropower Association. Malcolm gives us valuable insights into hydropower advocacy at the national level, the ground being made on energy policy, finding common ground through uncommon dialogue, what makes hydropower the "unsung hero of the grid," and why telling water power's story...

If you didn't piece it together from the episode title, on this special episode of Dam! we hear from our neighbors in California on the current state of hydropower. Nick Dominguez of Lassen Municipal Utility District shares the unique challenges California utilities face, gives us a lay of the land for Lassen's service territory, breaks down the energy supply from hydropower and other reso...

Washington Policy Center's new Eastern Washington director, Sean O'Brien, joins Dam! to give us some insight into the world of Northwest energy policy at a state and national level. We explore Sean's prior roles, including his time working for Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA), making a return home to the Northwest, his experience with AgForestry, and what's happening at the legislat...

It's a meeting of the minds between two public power podcast hosts! We're joined on this special episode of Dam! by Danny Combs, corrective action program specialist and host of the Coworker to Coworker podcast at Grant PUD. Topics covered include the behind the curtain discussion of successfully creating and hosting the podcast, providing an answer to that "so what?" question th...

Cam LeHouillier, manager of energy research and development at Tacoma Public Utilities, gives us the scoop on all things electric vehicles in this episode of Dam! We take a look at bringing electrification to both residential and commercial transportation, charging and energy infrastructure, the important role of hydropower and clean energy, what responsibility utilities have in carving out a path...