Drought Forces West to Turn to Fuels That Helped Cause It (1)

An unlikely energy sector is emerging as a winner from the West’s megadrought: fossil fuels, whose heavy use has been blamed for creating the conditions causing the drought in the first place.

The drought has slashed the electricity-generating capacity of major hydroelectric dams, forcing buyers to spend millions of dollars to buy extra power from an expensive sellers’ market. Some wholesale electricity consumers—including cities and towns, rural electric cooperatives, public utility districts, irrigation districts, federal and state agencies, and Native American tribes—are replacing emissions-free hydropower with dirtier energy sources.

Fossil fuels are considered a key driver of global climate change ...