Portland General Electric Driving Collaboration for Sustainable Legislation

Abstract

In 2015, a group of environmental organizations filed a ballot measure petition that would require investor-owned electric utilities in Oregon to acquire 50% of their energy from renewable resources by 2040 and cease serving customers with coal-generated electricity. To mitigate the potential economic and social impacts of this measure, the two major investor-owned electric utilities in the state, Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, formed a workgroup with utility stakeholders, customer advocates, renewable energy developers, and environmentalists. Together, they negotiated a new plan, Senate Bill 1547, which was adopted by the state legislature in February 2016. Compared with the measure, the bill significantly reduced the cost impacts of emission reductions, improved flexibility in meeting carbon reduction goals, created a community solar program, and allowed utilities to invest in transportation electrification using customer funds. This collaborative effort limited the total possible trade-offs involved in reducing carbon emissions while controlling customer costs.