Oregon

  • PGE Leans into an All-of-the-Above Strategy to Decarbonize Its Power System

    Climate change has led many states and countries to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power systems. Oregon, for example, has set targets for all power sold to retail customers in the state to have GHG emissions cut by 80% by 2030, 90% by 2035, and 100% by 2040. It’s a challenging […]

  • Golden Hills Wind Farm in Oregon Achieves Commercial Operation

    ORANGE, CT – May 2, 2022 – Avangrid Renewables, LLC, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), today announced that it has achieved commercial operation at its 200 Megawatt (MW) Golden Hills wind farm in Sherman County, Oregon. The facility, which provides enough clean, renewable electricity to Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to power over 60,000 […]

  • California and Oregon Sail Forward on Offshore Wind

    The Biden administration in 2021 announced its goal of developing 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. Deep water off the West Coast means that any wind energy generation on this side of the U.S. must float

  • California Braces for New Reliability Crisis as Wildfire Threatens Crucial Intertie

    The rapidly spreading Bootleg Fire tripped off transmission lines that transport power from the Pacific Northwest to California and other states over the weekend, prompting the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to issue another Flex Alert—the sixth such conservation notification this summer. According to the state’s Incident Information System, the intense fire in Southern-Central Oregon […]

  • DOE Providing $27 Million for Wave Energy Research Projects

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced it will provide as much as $27 million in federal funding for research and development projects designed to advance the efficient conversion of wave-based energy into electricity, with a goal to make the technology commercially viable. The DOE on July 7 said the money supports the Biden […]

  • Solar, Storage Among New Projects in Texas

    Several companies have announced new energy projects in Texas, including three utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), and a solar farm that will benefit customers in the western part of the state. The projects were announced August 19. In addition, officials in Houston on Wednesday said they have awarded a contract for a microgrid that […]

  • Portland General Electric: New law will boost zero-emission vehicles in Oregon, reducing state’s impact on climate change

    PORTLAND, Ore., June 19, 2019 — Oregon took a major step forward toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector thanks to Senate Bill 1044, passed in the Legislature Tuesday and headed to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature. “With the passage of Senate Bill 1044, Oregon is helping lead the nation on how to transition to a cleaner, modern transportation […]

  • Solar, Wind, Storage Come Together in Oregon Project

    A renewable energy project in eastern Oregon is being touted as the first in the U.S. to combine wind and solar power with battery storage. Portland General Electric (PGE) plans to build the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility just north of Lexington, Oregon, the company announced last week. The utility is developing the 380-MW project with […]

  • The ‘Green New Deal’ Out West

    COMMENTARY Launched last week by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “Green New Deal” appears to pick up where President Franklin Roosevelt left off with his “Second Bill of Rights” announced in his 1944 State of the Union Address1. More manifesto than mandate, the Green New Deal seeks to be a lens through which legislators’ […]

  • The Big Picture: Energy Storage Mandates

    While 29 states and the District of Columbia currently have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)—goals for power producers to provide a certain amount of power from renewable sources by a specific date—a growing number of states are also instituting standalone targets and mandates for energy storage procurement. Sources: Energy Storage Association, North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center, Lawrence Berkeley […]

  • GE Upgrades Oregon Power Plant to Prepare for Seasonal Demand Challenges

    Avista Uses GE’s Advanced Gas Path and DLN 2.6+ Combustion Technology to Help Coyote Springs Unit 2 Meet Changing Seasonal Energy Demands GE Upgrade Helps to Increase Combined-Cycle Plant’s Capacity, Fuel Efficiency and Flexibility BADEN, SWITZERLAND—July 21, 2016—GE’s Power Services (NYSE: GE) business today announced the completion of a gas turbine upgrade project in Oregon […]

  • Oregon Legislature Passes Bill to Eliminate Coal from State Power Supply

    The Oregon Senate passed a bill on March 2 that will require electric companies in the state to eliminate coal-fired resources from their electrical supplies by January 1, 2030. The bill—which passed in the senate by a 17–12 vote—had already been passed by the Oregon House of Representatives (38–20). It now heads to Gov. Kate […]

  • Pot, Power, and Politics

    Legal marijuana, cultivated indoors on a large scale, poses a growing threat to electrical safety and a booming new business demand for electric power. Legal marijuana cultivation is posing electrical problems in three of the four states where recreational cannabis use is now permitted. The problem is that indoor growing operations—long a production staple when […]