From the Editor’s Desk |
Hydropower’s changing value
H
ydropower has never really struggled for attention in North America. It is too deeply embedded in the electricity systems of both Canada and the US for that. What does appear to be
changing, however, is the context in which its value is being assessed.
For much of the past decade, discussion around
hydropower development has inevitably been framed by the energy transition and the need to increase renewable electricity generation. Those arguments remain important, but rapidly rising electricity demand is adding another dimension. The growth of artificial intelligence and data
centres, electrification and advanced manufacturing is changing expectations for the North American power system. In the Western Interconnection alone, electricity demand is projected to increase by more than 20% over the next decade, while more than 24GW of coal, gas and nuclear capacity is scheduled to retire. That combination makes the characteristics hydropower has always provided – reliability, flexibility, storage and grid support – increasingly valuable. The National Hydropower Association has been making this argument particularly strongly around pumped storage. More than 60GW of proposed pumped storage capacity is currently in the US development pipeline, around 85% of it in the Western Interconnection. Yet despite some projects being fully licensed, none of this new capacity is currently under construction, with financing and regulatory barriers continuing to hamper development. There is an interesting contradiction here. North America arguably has a growing need for exactly the characteristics pumped storage can provide, but converting that need into investment remains difficult. The same tension can be seen across conventional hydropower. In the US, around 16GW of hydropower capacity faces relicensing over the next decade. Rather than simply discussing how much new capacity can be added, the industry
4 | September 2026 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
therefore also has to consider how to avoid losing or underinvesting in capacity that already exists. This perhaps explains the significance of the
recent flurry of bipartisan hydropower legislation on Capitol Hill. Proposals covering licensing affordability, Section 408 approvals, water quality certification and routine maintenance may not attract the attention of a major new project announcement, but collectively they address whether the existing fleet can be maintained and modernised efficiently enough to meet future needs. Canada provides the other side of the equation.
The federal government’s C$10bn financing commitment for Churchill Falls, Gull Island and associated infrastructure forms part of a programme approaching C$70bn. Its proposed 14,000MW of renewable generation capacity is being linked not only with clean electricity, but with transmission, industrial development and greater interprovincial energy connectivity. Perhaps this is where the North American
hydropower story becomes particularly interesting. The debate is becoming less about whether hydropower belongs in a low-carbon electricity system – that argument is well established – and more about what its existing and potential capabilities are worth in a system facing significant new demand. For the sector, that creates an opportunity, but also a challenge. If electricity demand really is entering a new period of sustained growth, North America may discover that preserving, upgrading and expanding its hydropower infrastructure is considerably easier than trying to replace the services it already provides.
Carrieann Stocks
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