The source of Evergreen’s power comes from the regional power grid produced by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which manages and oversees power production in territory over much of the pacific northwest including all of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho with some coverage existing in northern California, Nevada, Utah, and in western Wyoming and Montana. Focusing on specifically Washington’s territory, Evergreen and areas within Thurston County, along with many parts along the Puget Sound, get their power sourced from Puget Sound Energy (PSE) who buys it wholesale from Bonneville Power Administration and distributes it across the Puget Sound Region. Power produced by BPA within Washington primarily comes from hydro dams generating power along rivers. This accounts for 59.6% of BPA’s energy production with natural gas burning accounting for 17.7% and nuclear power accounting for 9.8%. Evergreen’s power primarily comes from above ground power transmission lines managed by PSE, however much of the electricity within the college is transmitted underground through tunnels and conduits. Electrical usage in the year 2021 was around 11.9 million kWh (kilowatt-hours), of which 0.115% (13,790 kWh) was from the usage of on-site solar panels to cut back on the reliance of outside sources like PSE. In the event of an outage, there are backup gas powered generators in the HCC and A buildings.
Post-Incident
After veins in the sky appeared and the virtually impermeable mist surrounding the college blew in, trapping the unfortunate 1000 present at the college at the time of the incident, Evergreen’s electricity became noticeably strange in behavior. Above ground transmission lines managed by Puget Sound Energy cut through the thick fog surrounding the campus and so as of this point we are not sure if there are any downed lines, however the power coming in from the outside is not reliable as it keeps flickering in the day on and off in eerily ritualistic patterns. Lights blink in sequences, appliances make strange noises as they turn on and off in succession. The power lines underground that transmit power across campus have likely stayed intact but there is no guarantee that stays the norm as things around campus become stranger and stranger by the day. The backup generators would likely be the most reliable source of power now that we’re stranded and would need to be hooked up to the Greenery to keep our food supply fresh. Evergreen also has its own source of solar energy through panels it has installed that offload the amount of power used, however it only accounts for 0.1% of the total power used at the college so it would likely only be able to power a small set of things on campus after the backup generators give in. There are other resources with power here on campus we can use in the event that power runs out for the time being, siphoning gas from the vehicles left on campus could power the generators, but depending on how many cars were left it might only yield a small amount. If the situation is dire and we grow more desperate, car batteries might prove useful to hook up to essential services like fridges and freezers. One thing is for sure, and that is we are sitting in a boat with a hole leaking water into the hull, and eventually that hull will no longer allow us to float. We will run out of power eventually, and so finding a proper source of it will be necessary to our survival. Reestablishing a connection with Olympia is a must if possible, until then we will need to make due with what we have at our disposal.