Forms part of the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Project.
Collection is open for research.
James William Litchfield was born in Yakima, Washington, in 1948. He attended Yakima Valley College, then transferred to the University of Washington, where he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering. In 1973, he earned a master's degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then returned to Washington and worked for Battelle. He was power planning director for the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, from 1981 to 1992. After leaving the council, he started a consulting company, the Litchfield Consulting Group. He retired in 2020.
The Northwest Power Planning Council is a four-state regional planning body formed by Congress through the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to develop and maintain regional conservation and electric power plans and a fish and wildlife program. The council is composed of two representatives from each member state: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The mission of the council is "to preserve the benefits of the Columbia River for future generations." The body was originally known as the Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council; the name was shortened to Northwest Power Planning Council in October 1981, and in 2003, the name was changed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Forms part of the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Project.
Oral history interview with Jim W. Litchfield, by Michael O'Rourke, SR 2759, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Northwest Power Planning Council records, Mss 1852, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Jim W. Litchfield was conducted by Michael O'Rourke at Litchfield's office in Portland, Oregon, from September 21-22, 2000. The interview was conducted as part of the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Project, which documented the history and purpose of the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The interview was conducted in two sessions; session 2 begins partway through Tape 3, Side 1. A transcript of the interview is available.
In the first interview session, conducted on September 21, 2000, Litchfield discusses his family background and early life in Yakima, Washington, including his education at Yakima Valley College. He talks about his experience studying engineering at the University of Washington and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then speaks at length about his work as a consultant with Battelle in the 1970s, including his work on decommissioning the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant. He discusses his service as power planning director for the Northwest Power Planning Council from 1981 to 1992. He talks about his work on the first power and conservation plan; the people he worked with, particularly Dan Evans; and the early organizational structure of the council. He also talks about the council's relationship with the Bonneville Power Administration and other electric utilities, about the financial troubles of the Washington Public Power Supply System, and about the council's first fish and wildlife plan.
In the second interview session, conducted on September 22, 2000, Litchfield continues to discuss his service as power planning director for the NWPPC. He talks about the implementation of and opposition to the council's Model Conservation Standards, discusses how the power surplus of the 1980s affected the council's work, and shares his reasons for leaving the council in 1992. He also revisits the topic of the financial troubles of the Washington Public Power Supply System. He talks about his work as a consultant after leaving the council, particularly on the Snake River Recovery Team; about his observations of how the council's work was affected by the changing state politics of the 1990s; and about the controversy surrounding proposals to remove the Snake River dams. He closes the interview by discussing deregulation of electric utilities.
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and Jim W. Litchfield. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted,