Oregon governor pushes for renewable energy

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Ted Kulongoski is pushing hard to increase renewable energy development in Oregon with a variety of sources ranging from wind to biomass to harnessing the motion of coastal waves.

Kulongoski wants 25 percent of Oregon's power to comes from pollution-free, environmentally friendly and renewable sources by 2025.

If the Democratic governor's plan is adopted, it would make Oregon the 21st state with a "renewable portfolio standard," or RPS. Washington state voters will make a similar choice, with an initiative on their state ballot proposing a 15-percent-by-2020 RPS.

Advocates of renewable energy, including the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, say it would reduce reliance on costly fossil fuels while easing pollution. The group estimates Oregon alone could cut global-warming pollution by 7 million tons.

Even without state-adopted renewable standards, the region is expanding alternative energy sources with additional wind generation and conservation efforts, according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Adopting an RPS would add to Oregon's ability to steer clear of environmentally unfriendly energy, said J. Rachel Shimshak, director of the Renewable Northwest Project.

She said big utilities have for years talked about their commitment to wind and other "green" energy resources, but their business plans and past practices suggest they're more committed to coal- and natural gas-fired plants.

But a state-enforced renewable portfolio standard, Shimshak said, "would assure they do what they've said they were going to do, but so far haven't."

Stan Watters, a top executive with Portland-based PacifiCorp, one of the biggest utility companies in the West, said recently that he wasn't opposed to an RPS outright.

But rather than a mandatory target, with the threat of penalties for utilities that fall short, Watters said an Oregon RPS should set long-range goals supported by "reasonable incentives."

"If we are going to have an RPS, it should be one that will benefit our customers, and not overly burdensome to the system with too high a cost," said Watters, the six-state utility's senior vice president.

The Eugene Water & Electric Board became the first public utility to use and sell wind power when it partnered with PacifiCorp in the late 1990s on a wind farm in Wyoming.

Today, its gets about 7 percent of its electricity from resources that would likely be deemed renewable under Kulongoski's plan — a figure that could reach 15 percent if EWEB follows through on its intent to contract for geothermal power from an Idaho producer, said spokesman Lance Robertson.

Michael Early of the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities warned that one drawback is that costs could go up once suppliers of wind turbines and other sources of renewable energy generation knew that utilities had no choice but to add them.

"If there's a mandated requirement for someone to buy your turbines, you can charge more," he said.