I have recently moved to Oregon and I just attended my first energy hearing on the West Coast. As someone who comes from the Southeast US, it was extremely refreshing to be at a hearing that was about a regional energy plan focused on efficiency, conservation and renewable energy and NOT about any new coal or nuclear plants or reducing mining protections! The plan was created by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, a group created by Congress to give the citizens of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington a stronger voice in determining the future of key resources common to all four states. The plan is definitely more on the right track than anything I’ve seen in the Southeast, but considering the dire status of our climate (a new study predicted that even with some carbon cuts we will see 6.3 degrees F of warming by 2100) including our need to reach 350 ppm of CO2 from our current 387, the plan must go further.
Thankfully, pretty much everyone at the hearing pushed the council to reach for a coal-free Oregon and Northwest, including many folks who weren’t even affiliated with the Sierra Club’s exciting “Coal-Free Northwest” Campaign. There was additional opposition to burning trees for energy, support for the addition of substantial GHG reduction goals to the plan and support for removal of dams on the Snake River to support salmon recovery. I was excited to see multiple other youth present including a recent graduate from Portland and University of Oregon students organizing Powershift West (at UO Nov. 7-8), which includes a goal of “Moving America beyond coal through regional activism.” However, the plan and everyone at the hearing were pretty silent on the issue of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the proposed terminal northwest of Portland.
I even saw utility staff testifying in favor of this plan’s focus on efficiency and renewable energy (although they were concerned about how conservation credits would be distributed, since many of them have been focused on conservation and efficiency for years). For example, Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) in Eugene, OR already invests 5% of it’s revenue in conservation and 40 out of their 500 staff work on conservation!
Here’s a quote on the focus of The Draft Sixth Northwest Power Plan from the plan’s summary:
In each of its power plans, the Council has found substantial amounts of conservation to be cheaper and more sustainable than many forms of additional electric-generating capability. In this Sixth Power Plan, because of higher costs of alternative generation sources, rapidly developing technology, and heightened concerns about global climate change, conservation holds an even larger potential for the region. The Plan finds enough conservation to be available and cost-effective to meet the load growth of the region for the next 20 years. If developed aggressively, this conservation, combined with the region’s past successful development of energy efficiency could constitute the future equivalent of the regional hydroelectric system; a river of energy efficiency that will complement and protect the regional heritage of a clean and affordable power supply.
Specifically, the plan states that the Northwest can meet 85% of all needs over the next 20 years solely through conservation, and can do so at half the cost of building power plants! Many environmentalists (including me) and others have been asking Southern utilities and utilities commissions to do this for years, so it’s exciting to see an offical federal body saying this. Although, as I mentioned earlier the plan still needs to include a GHG reduction goal and phase out coal in the Northwest as soon as possible. If Oregon and the Northwest set a goal of going coal-free, they would be the first state and region that currently uses coal to kick the coal habit. This would be an incredible precedent for the country and the nation!
Want to get involved? Submit a comment on the plan before November 6th, come to Power Shift West November 6-8 in Eugene, OR and/or get involved with the Sierra Club’s Coal-Free Northwest Campaign.
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