The Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) was started in the 1950s as a means to guarantee electric power to homes and industry in the Northwest. Planners expected that the demand for electricity in the Northwest would double every 10 years, beyond the capacity of hydropower. Five nuclear power plants were planned, but only one was completed: Plant 2, completed in 1984 at Hanford. It cost $3.2 billion and is still operating as the Columbia Generating Station, the only commercial nuclear power plant in Washington. The WPPSS projects were stymied by delays, cost overruns, and mismanagement, and in 1982, WPPPS defaulted in $2.25 billion of bonds. In 1995, WPPSS decided to demolish what remained of the unfinished plants, and in 1998 WPPSS was renamed Energy Northwest. (Information provided by History Link.)