WHILE PORTLAND’S high-profile green innovations are helping the
city’s image become synonymous with sustainability (see: condo
developers topping their downtown towers with wind turbines) the city
runs on a dirty secret. Forty percent of Portland’s energy comes from a
very un-green source: coal.
Environmental groups are pressuring Portland General Electric (PGE)
to shut down its Oregon coal-burning power plant and stop fueling the
state with coal altogether by 2020. The groups have some political
support, but whether the grassroots effort can force the power giant to
change course is unclear.
Hundreds of Portlanders filled Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday
afternoon, October 24, waving flags for clean energy and better
climate-change legislation as part of an international protest
organized by 350.org. On the sidelines,
friendly representatives from PGE offered to sign people up for the
company’s renewable energy program. The 350.org event was the second environmental
protest of the week in the square. At the first, on Wednesday, October
21, the Sierra Club singled out PGE, with a giant inflatable replica of
Boardman coal power plant emblazed with the words, “Make PGE coal
free!”
The Boardman coal plant in Eastern Oregon releases tens of thousands
of tons of toxic chemicals into the air annually, including five
million tons of carbon dioxide (as much as nearly one million cars).
The Sierra Club is part of a coalition that’s currently suing the plant
in federal court for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act.
With the background noise of bongos and tribal chanting filling
Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday, PGE representatives hyped the
company’s clean wind and biomass energy programs. But altogether those
earth-friendly energy sources make up only four percent of PGE’s power.
In a draft of the company’s new two-year plan released last month, PGE
promotes energy efficiency—but also says it will increase its
reliance on coal.
Grassroots greenies are not the only ones upset at PGE’s continued
use of coal. Mayor Sam Adams recently wrote a letter to PGE and the
Public Utility Commission, which oversees PGE’s energy plans,
criticizing the increased use of coal and calling for PGE to shut down
Boardman.
“Not many Portlanders know that for every 10 minutes they turn on a
light, four of those minutes are powered with coal,” says Adams. “I
want to engage with [PGE] and come up with a business model for
investing more in energy efficiency, clean energy, and
eco-districts.”
The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) also wants
Boardman closed. That agency gave PGE until 2014 to either shut down
the plant or install major environmental upgrades. Adams, the DEQ, and
environmental critics think the company can shut down Boardman and make
up a sizable portion of the lost-energy simply through helping
customers become more energy efficient.
PGE spokesman Steve Corson says if the company switched from coal,
it would need to rely more on natural gas. “That would leave us
vulnerable to natural gas price hikes,” says Corson, explaining that
power rates might increase. PGE is currently planning to keep Boardman
open until at least 2040 after installing the environmental upgrades.
Critics say the threat of a rate increase is off base when PGE’s
departing CEO Peggy Fowler got a $4.5 million severance package last
year.
The decision over Oregon’s energy future comes down to the
three-person Public Utility Commission, which will look over PGE’s plan
next month. Commission administrator Ed Busch says it is very rare for
a company to go against the recommendations of the governor-appointed
group, though they are not legally binding.
In April 2008, the commission voted down energy company PacifiCorp’s
plan to build and acquire four coal power plants. “The commission made
it pretty clear they’re not in favor of coal,” says Busch. “The company
backed off and are not planning any new coal plants. I guess the
commissioners made PacifiCorp see the error of their ways.”
Out of curiosity, why is Pacific Power not mentioned in this article? They provide for over 500,000 customers in Oregon and have a much larger reliance on coal generation (that they produce in Wyoming).
Bonneville is promoted at this huge primary source of power in the Northwest… so why do we have to have coal? I see the thing from PGE where I can pay more for my power to use a renewable energy source. I don’t think I should have to pay more… its not like they are going to guarantee all my power comes from those sources. All the generated power comes through the same wires eventually.
How much power (what percentage) do the Dams along the Columbia really generate? PGE also has a dam operating off the Clackamas river.
Kerry,
Although it has a vast generating capacity, the BPA does not produce enough power for the region. This coupled with public utility districts (PUD’s) having first dibs through contractual agreements, leaves PGE and Pacific Power having to generate their own energy to supplement what little they receive from the BPA.
The paying more for renewable energy aspect that both PP&L and PGE offer is somewhat of a joke as they are mandated to have a certain percentage of their generating capacity be green within the next couple of years. Thus, the public is being solicited to pay for something that these companies will have to do eventually anyway. As you astutely point out, the energy all goes into the same grid, and thus this feel good measure is almost duplicitous in that the energy produced from a wind turbine in eastern Oregon, that you are paying for, does not go directly to your house, but rather is simply added to the grid that day.
You need to get your facts right, folks. Oregon does NOT get 40 percent of its energy from coal. According to the Oregon State Department of Energy, 70 percent of the state’s energy is generated by hydropower. That only leaves 30 percent for all other sources of generation combined: coal, natural gas, wind, biomass, geothermal, etc.
Thanks, Curtis, for pointing out yet more incompetent reporting from the Merc. The article is probably getting it’s numbers from PGE ( http://www.portlandgeneral.com/residential… ) which gives PORTLAND’s energy mix at 38.9% coal and only 36.6% hydro, even though the article’s title says “OREGON”.
I saw this info when I got my first PGE bill, asking me to pay more for renewables. I don’t think this is a secret at all, unless things people are oblivious to are suddenly “secrets”. Secret poverty, secret genocide, and on, all hidden by a conspiracy of reality to not magically populate the mind with information, but actually requiring one to read something. Dastardly!
Anyway, I support pressure on energy producers to switch to carbon-neutral sources, and I support paying more for it, which we will have to do. I do not like the idea of natural gas. It’s better than coal, but still contributes to global warming. Maybe we should give the Feds a couple six months to put out some Cap’n’Trade legislation before we decide how to generate our energy? Just a thought.
I’d also be curious to see how much electricity we need if we seriously conserve. Maybe we don’t need the coal plant at all! But we don’t even try. It’s embarrassing.
Curtis,
Having perused the department of energy’s website, I have not found the reference to 70 precent aspect being generated by hydro that you refer to. Do you have a specific weblink?
I ask as coming up with this number would be questionable as the western states our all on the same grid (the other two are the eastern grid, and Texas of all things having its own). If we all share the same grid, the statement that Oregon has a specific percentage in generation is arbitrary, and subsequently misleading as it is combined with all the other western states and thus is a moot point.
This having been said, one would then look to a specific provider (PGE, Pacific Power, EWEB, etc.) to see what their generating mix is into the shared grid.
Here it is, Grouchy.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energ…
To paraphrase the page, coal supplies roughly 9% of Oregon’s energy.
jamdox,
The 40 percent number in the article comes from the Oregon Department of Energy, not PGE. You can download the pdf of their 2007-2009 energy plan confirming the resource split at this website: http:/www.oregon.gov/energy/docs/energypla…
Thanks for bringing up that Portland’s energy mix is slightly different than Oregon’s as a whole. According to PGE, 24 percent of the energy they provide to Portland is straight from coal sources. But another 20 percent is bought off the market from other provides and that energy is from 15-16 percent coal sources. So energy provided to Portland from PGE breaks down to being about 39-40 percent coal, too.
@Sarah
The numbers quoted in the document you referenced are from 2005. If you go to the (updated weekly) page referenced in my post and look under “Coal, Electricity and Renewables”, you will that 2/3 of Oregon’s electricity is hydroelectric, 1/4 is LNG, and the rest is split between the remaining resources. No one is arguing that 40% of Portland’s electricity is coal-produced, but the title of your article states that 40% of Oregon’s electricity is coal-produced, which is incorrect.
With all due respect, where on earth did you get your statistics?? If you visit http://www.nwcouncil.org/maps/power/Default.asp it shows you the sources of energy in OR, and the coal portion is no where near 40%, more like 3.5% (also, there is evidently no coal production in Portland either)! And first you say “oregon is fueled by 40% dirty coal” and then you say “Forty percent of Portland’s energy comes from a very un-green source: coal”. Portland or Oregon?? They’re very different! And are your facts really spot on? I would check.
Yeah, energy is shared around the region. It’s just silly and self-centered to talk about where “your” electricity comes from If you use more of your precious “green” electricity, some hog somewhere is then forced to use more coal. Good job! Reality is you must average at least your region’s connected grid if not the whole country or maybe the planet.
If you want to green up your power your choices are: Conserve/Reduce and add solar/wind to the grid. Everything else is rearranging the deck chairs.