SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants all the electricity used by state agencies to come from brand-new renewable sources such as wind and sun power -- and he wants that done in an ambitious four years.

It's a goal whose timeline would dovetail neatly with the end of the Democrat's second four-year term, should voters re-elect him this fall. Kulongoski had previously set the mark at 100 percent by 2025, before deciding to ramp up the schedule as a way to create jobs and set an example in responsible energy consumption.
 
"I want to shorten our timetable by 15 years. I want to do it by 2010, and I think we can do this if we set the bar and say we are going to move toward this target," he said in prepared remarks to the Oregon Sustainability Board on Friday.
 
Kulongoski gave no specifics on public investment costs, potential savings or ways to meet a goal that would make Oregon the first in the nation. He promised that the state departments of Administrative Services and Energy would deliver options to him by July.
 
State government spends about $26 million a year on electricity, which makes up roughly one-third of energy consumed. Currently, about 1 percent of state agencies' electricity comes from renewable sources, said Anna Richter Taylor, a Kulongoski spokeswoman.
 
Renewable energy and consumer advocates called the governor's proposal feasible. They praised his aggressiveness in developing new industry through wind and solar generators, geothermal or hot rock sources, and plant matter biomass.
 
That's especially timely as Oregonians worry about global warming and soaring fuel costs, they said. At the same time, there's dwindling room to develop additional sites to generate hydroelectric power.
 
Wind and solar sources are attractive "because there's no fuel -- nature is the fuel -- you have very stable prices over the long term," said Rachel Shimshak, director of the Renewable Northwest Project, a nonprofit advocacy group.
 
Bob Jenks, executive director of the consumer-friendly Citizens' Utility Board, said government is poised to encourage demand.
 
"Twenty years ago, government did a lot to push the purchase of recycled paper and helped build the market for that," he said. "And they can do the same here: use their purchasing power to develop renewable energy."
 
About 55 percent of regional electricity comes from hydropower dams -- which environmentalists say have threatened to extinguish the Northwest salmon population -- with the rest coming from coal and natural gas, said Angus Duncan, president and CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a nonprofit agency that buys and sells renewable energy.
 
Wind power generates about 1 percent, meaning there's plenty of room to grow, he said.
 
Kulongoski said possible options include the state buying and developing wind farms, or contracting with a private company to develop one. State agencies also could install more solar panels or build on-site biomass generators.
 
All of that sounds good to Rep. Jeff Kropf, a Republican from rural Sublimity, who co-sponsored a bill last year to promote renewable fuels made from corn, seeds or other agricultural products.
 
"As long as it can be developed within the state of Oregon and doesn't cost us more money in the long run," he said, "I'm fine."

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