On Thursday Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) announced plans to purchase development rights to the Rock Creek Wind Farm in Gilliam County, Oregon. The wind farm, scheduled to begin construction in 2013 or 2014, will have the capacity to produce 400 to 550 megawatts. That is enough energy to power, depending on wind variability, 125,00 homes. At present, 9% of PGE’s electricty is supplied from renewables, but this development indicative of changing mindsets and changing strategies.
The proposed project is currently owned by Renewable Energy Systems America Inc. (RES Americas). RES Americas operates nearly 3,900 Megawatts of wind power capacity (10% of all the currently available wind power in the country) at sites across the country and have another 12,500 Megawatts in development.
A rendering of another proposed PGE wind farm in Oregon (image courtesty of PGE)
According to PGE Vice President of power operations and resource strategies Jim Lobdell, “good renewable sites are highly sought after, so we are pleased to have reached preliminary agreement on certain terms with RES Americas and look forward to working with them in the coming months to see if we can arrive at a final agreement that serves our customers’
best interests.”
In addition to generating wind power, the proposed 68,000 acre site would also be available for agricultural and other uses. This is an important aspect of the project, because it counters part of the NIMBY argument as the land could still serve a useful purpose locally.
Shifting to wind is important. It not only helps large cities like Portland, but can be beneficial on a small scale to specific communities, like Portsmouth or Block Island. Additionally, it allows the rural areas where projects like the Rock Creek Wind Farm are located to remain focused on a pivotal part of their economy – agriculture. With a technology like solar, this isn’t possible. There are some drawbacks, though.
First, to use wind power now, PGE charges an additional $3.50 per month for each 200kw hours used. Despite the addition of the Rock Creek Farm, PGE gives no indication that will change. This means that wind power will remain more of a luxury than a practical alternative for residents of Portland.
Second, the project is expensive, time-consuming, and skirts some current Oregon laws. Normally PGE would have to go through a bidding process that proves buying the Rock Creek Farm from RES Americas is cheaper than, say, constructing their own farm. PGE claims that timeliness is an important factor in necessitating that “skirt”. Unfortunately, they long-term benefits of following the Oregon law may not be known due to the necessity for PGE to take hold of a profitable opportunity.
Nonetheless, PGE’s acquisition of the Rock Creek Wind Farm is more or less a step in the right direction. Just like the Nissan Leaf, wind power’s extra cost doesn’t make it a bad idea. The more and more people use it, the more available it will become and at some point, that cost will go down. Achieving a diversified energy grid is a necessity, and this project takes a step towards achieving that goal (even if it does have its drawbacks).
What do you think of this development? Is this simply a business move for PGE? Should they have to go through the regular bidding process? Is wind energy the way of the future or a dying technology? Share your thoughts below…
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Wind energy definitely has a lot of potential, but it is variable. A combination of Solar and Wind is most likely the best option but still cannot deliver 100% of the time.(What happens at night when the wind doesn’t blow?) I believe it is a business move and they should go through the regular bidding process.
I think renewable energy is becoming more popular, not necessarily for its cleanliness but more for its costs. Sure there is a large cost up front, you get this same cost with any power plant as well, what sets solar and wind apart, however, is that you do not have to continue purchasing coal or other fuels to produce energy. All you require is routine maintenance and monitoring, which you do for any power plant anyways.
Looking at the 10 year picture, renewable energy is a lot cheaper for PGE. It is because of this fact that I think they really should not be passing higher rates on to their customers, in fact, I think the customers should pay less, since the energy is costing less to produce. Other supply companies on the East coast, such as Viridian Energy, offer 100% wind energy for cheaper rates than electric distribution companies.
Thanks for this post – it’s nice to see that PGE is doing at least one thing right. However while I wish I could say the move to purchase more wind power signals a genuine willingness to move away from fossil fuels on PGE’s part, unfortunately that isn’t the case. Even as this company buys up wind farms and tries to re-brand itself as a leader in renewable energy, PGE is simultaneously fighting with everything it’s got to keep Oregon’s Boardman Coal Plant open as long as possible. The Boardman Plant is by far the largest source of carbon pollution in the state, and a major source of mercury, smog, and other pollutants as well.
It’s also worth noting that major Oregon utilities are required by state law to source 25% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2025. I’m concerned that PGE is trying to paint itself as a leader, when in fact the company is simply doing what it is required to do by law. Meanwhile keeping the Boardman Coal Plant open until 2020 or much later (as PGE is proposing to do) would make it difficult or impossible for Oregon to acheive its global warming reduction goals. Despite the company’s greenwash, PGE is actually threatening to take Oregon backwards.
I think it’s great that posts like this provide a venue to take a hard-nosed look at companies which are supposedly committed to renewable power, and determine which ones are serious – and which are more serious about greenwashing their public image. PGE has yet to show its practices are even in keeping with statewide climate goals, let alone that it is doing anything to make itself a true leader. Perhaps that will change as word gets out about PGE’s failure to move beyond fossil fuels.
surely the reason for them putting up windmills is obvious, it lets them sell lots of natural gas. How do you think they’re going to balance the load otherwise? Renewables aren’t going to do it for you on their own.
Portland has a big chance to be a leader in producing wind energy