Seattle City Light has reached a 1.35 billion dollar settlement with three Indigenous tribes over the environmental impact of its Skagit River dams. The deal addresses a century of cultural trauma and ecological damage, including a two-mile stretch of river that was intentionally dried out to maximize power generation. While the utility marketed its hydropower as green and carbon-neutral, the settlement funds a massive fish passage system to move salmon around dams. This case highlights the tension between achieving carbon-free energy targets and maintaining ecological integrity and tribal rights.
