As producers warn of depleted energy supplies and rising prices across the nation, the Northwest is embroiled in a long-running battle over the hydroelectric dams that provide 46 percent of the region’s clean, renewable energy. Oregon utility companies are urging Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, to withdraw from “never-ending litigation surrounding salmon issues,” which they say would increase energy costs and could lead to rolling blackouts. Perhaps most egregious, they argue, is that the loss of available hydroelectric power would need to be offset by energy sources with higher carbon content and thereby increase greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, in a letter to Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, Gov. Brown endorsed complete removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Snake River, saying it is the best way to increase endangered salmon runs. On July 16, she directed the state to seek a preliminary injunction against the federal government requiring dams …