Date sent: Sun, 01 Aug 1999 06:25:33 -0700 From: Colin Mattoon To: pfarticle@microconsultants.com Subject: You asked whi I am... Hello: I found your page via the Altavista search engine. I am a former electronics technician, now communications system designer and sales engineer, but I'm not looking as part of my job: I needed to find a web page that described power factor that I can refer non technicians to -- it doesn't matter whether they understand it or not -- just so they recognize that power factor isn't a fairy tale. Since my son's dog woke me up with it's incessant yapping, I'll take a moment and tell you why. After all, you did ask for this on your web page. And sometimes I think it is amusing to learn how and why the Internet gets used... It would appear you are in Australia. On the Pacific coast of the United States, extensive hydro-power development has caused the extinction of most of the 6 species of salmon that was returned every year by the millions. For example, I live in Lewiston, Idaho -- on the Snake River (tributary to the Columbia River) and I'm 465 miles inland of the ocean. When my father was a child, it is estimated that between 4 and 8 MILLION salmon passed Lewiston on their annual spawning runs. The Columbia River drainage basin includes parts of Canada as well, but considering only that portion within the United States, there are roughly 250 large hydropwer projects, roughly 400 total hydropower projects, and over 1,000 total dams and impoundments. There are 8 dams downstream of Idaho (between Lewiston, Idaho and the mouth of the Columbia River). Four of these dams are on the Snake River and four are on the Columbia. Salmon are evolved for free flowing cold water streams, and the dams, even though equipped with marginally effective fish passage facilities, create enormous, sun warmed slack water pools, where once a pristine cold water river flowed. Over 95% of out migrating juvenile salmon are killed by a combination of high water temperature, nitrogen super saturation and physical injury while passing though turbines. A smaller percentage of returning adults are killed by reservoir conditions (obviouslly the returning adults do not swim upstream through the turbines -- they pass over the dams via "fish ladders." At present, the mortality and rate of decline will cause extinction of all remain stocks between 2010 and 2020. Fisheries scientist have identified 4 of the 8 dams as the primary culprits and have recommended their breach to prevent extinction. Electrical power surpluses in the Pacific Northwest are so large that the federally owned Bonneville Power Administration has had little incentive to properly manage power factor and reactive power loss within the Bonneville transmission grid. Their primary emphasis, and their bureaucratic empire rests upon, generation as a panacea, and their management ignores their own data showing that transmission losses within the grid are excessive. They like dams. As someone within the small business community, I believe that the salmon are also an important part of the economy, and for moral/ethical reasons I do not believe that humans should cause the extinction of species unless there is no alternative. In this case, I believe there may be an alternative: breach these four dams and thereby restore more than 140 miles of free flowing river, and utilize the four power houses as dedicated synchronous condensing facilities. Most politicians and ordinary citizens have never heard of "synchronous condensing," or "motoring" or "rotary phase modification," as a means of controling power factor. Most, in fact, have never even heard of power factor or reactive power loss. So, when one explains this concept as a way to continue to reap the benefit of four dams after breach, they immediately assume that this is something akin to yet another perpetual motion machine, or a case of "space aliens" visiting earth. Yes, I know that everyone despises the Sierra Club. But they do some good work, so after 25 years of watching from the sidelines, I joined them. The systems I design are used to control power generation at federal dams, so I have a bit of an understanding -- even though I'm not an expert -- and I set out to demonstrate an alternative approach to salmon extinction versus power shortages. So, after months of frustration, I decided to put this Linux box to work for conservation. I'm looking for web sites to direct these people to. Yours popped up when I typed on altavista. And, now my coffee cup is empty, and without coffee I feel like I have malaria in the early morning, so I'll hit "send" and stagger in to the kitchen to refill it and go have a smoke outside before the temperature tops 100F again today. I'll wager that all this is more than you wanted to know, when you put the link to your E-Mail address on the web page! Colin Mattoon Lewiston, Idaho USA