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NORTHWE S T powered generating stations. The earthquake-related meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011 also dampened enthusiasm for nuclear options on the seismically active West Coast. Hydro, by contrast, is considered clean and green—the massive cost of developing dam infrastructure and the impact on aquatic life notwithstanding. "Sweet white wine tends to be more expensive from an energy standpoint, because we have to run chilling on it a bit longer." —Winemaker Don Crank III, Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. "As controversial as they are for Highlights • Power conservation is en vogue as pres- sure on hydro resources increases. • Energy audits can determine opportuni- ties for power savings. • Insulating tanks can cut power use significantly. • Variable frequency drives and high- efficiency lighting also trim power use. salmon reasons, (the dams) are also a renewable resource," observes Don Crank III, winemaker at Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. in Turner, Ore., and winery technical committee chair of Oregon's Low Input Viticulture and Enology program. Crank says WVV depends on hydro for 60% of its power needs, with the remainder coming from coal-powered generation stations and nuclear plants in Washington state. Reducing its power use could not only cut costs and make better use of the resource, it could also reduce the winery's carbon footprint. When the winery took up former Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's challenge in 2007 to become carbon neutral (an initiative supported by the Oregon Wine Board), Ecos Consulting of Portland, Ore., conducted an audit of WVV's energy use that pointed a way forward. (An audit typically costs $5,000 to $15,000, but it was sponsored by the Energy Trust of Oregon, a not-for-profit organization funded by ratepayers of local power utility Portland General Electric Co.) One of the most significant areas where WVV could reduce power use was in cooling its tanks. "We went about a process of three years of carbon footprinting our operation and then putting measures into Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2012 41