Political and civic leaders affirmed Energy Northwest’s status as a safe, reliable and clean provider of affordable power to the region during a celebration May 24 of Columbia Generating Station’s license renewal.

Employees, elected officials, members of Energy Northwest’s Executive Board and dignitaries – including retired CEO Vic Parrish – gathered in the parking lot of the Deschutes Building to hear Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, Executive Board Chair Sid Morrison and Bonneville Power Administration Administrator Steve Wright hail Columbia’s license renewal. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., provided pre-taped audio remarks congratulating Energy Northwest and its employees for the renewal this week of Columbia’s license to operate until 2043.

“I’m very proud to be part of this agency and to stand with you today and recognize the men and women of Energy Northwest, and to again say thank you to the entire license renewal team,” CEO Mark Reddemann told a crowd estimated by Nuclear Security at about 450.

“Today was only possible because the people behind the megawatts remain committed to upholding the highest standards of our industry. You are the people behind the megawatts, and, ultimately, the very reason we are all here today. You are the embodiment of our core values: Safety is first; it has always been, and always will be. Integrity in everything we do. Accountability – In this business we all know that goes without saying. And excellence – the drive not just to be good, but to be better, safer, and more reliable than any other nuclear power plant or industry in the United States.”

Gregoire took a tour of Columbia after the ceremony and later met with the Executive Board and Energy Northwest senior management. She thanked employees “for all you have done to make this day possible.”

She said she supported license renewal because she believes nuclear energy is a key power source for Washington now and into the future.

“Nuclear power has its place in the current and future production of electrical power for our nation,” Gregoire said. “I know that it can provide reliable and affordable baseload power over the very long term. It can produce that power without greenhouse gas emissions. That is why I endorsed the re-licensing of our plant. It is a cornerstone of power production in the Pacific Northwest.”

In pre-recorded comments, Hastings said license renewal would not have possible without an ongoing commitment to safety by employees. “I will continue to do everything I can to support your current operations and to encourage the further development of nuclear energy in our state,” Hastings said.

Murray said in her pre-recorded remarks that she was “proud to represent the only commercially operated nuclear power plant in the Pacific Northwest. I was very impressed to learn Columbia Generating Station produced over 7,000 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2011
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“And what’s even more impressive is the steadfast commitment of Energy Northwest management and workers to safety and the environment. These issues are very important to me and I commend you for your continued attention to keeping the community safe and our environment clean,” Murray said.

It was a particularly poignant moment for Morrison, who as the congressman for the district that includes southeastern Washington attended the ceremony marking Columbia’s debut as the Pacific Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant nearly 30 years ago.

“I consider this plant an awesome symbol of Washington public power,” Morrison said, encouraging employees to celebrate the achievement of license renewal.

Morrison also acknowledged recent improvements in Columbia’s performance and positive changes in the culture since the adoption of the Excellence Model. He noted Columbia entered Refueling Outage 20 after its longest-ever run of 505 days, and work on an array of equipment during the outage resulted in a gain of 22 extra megawatts of power for a generation average of more than 1,170 megawatts – the equivalent increase of $6 million a year in market value power.

“I’ve had the pleasure of watching performance trends these past 18 months rise higher than they’ve been in years,” Morrison said. “That’s a testament to your core value of excellence in performance. You should all be proud.”