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<\/p>\nPortland General Electric expects to add more than 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy and battery storage capacity to its system within three years, in the company\u2019s biggest renewable energy addition to date. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s as much electricity as it would take to power a quarter of the homes and businesses Oregon\u2019s largest investor-owned utility currently serves on the highest-energy use day of the year.<\/p>\n
Renewable energy advocates say the addition is significant, and will help keep rates from climbing. But they also said the utility needs to do more to meet the state\u2019s upcoming greenhouse gas emission reduction benchmark.<\/p>\n
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Solar panels at PGE’s Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility in Morrow County, Ore., in 2022. The company will be adding more solar generation and battery storage at the site in the coming years, as it announced this week.<\/p>\n
Kristyna Wentz-Graff \/ OPB<\/p>\n
On Thursday, PGE announced its 950,000 customers will soon benefit from more solar electricity. The company says by the end of 2028 it will expand two existing renewable energy projects and add 400 megawatts of battery storage capacity \u2014 boosting the reliability of its system. <\/p>\n
This comes at a time when energy demand is increasing due to a proliferation of data centers and as more people electrify their homes.<\/p>\n
According to PGE\u2019s senior director of commercial initiatives, Brett Greene, the 1,015 megawatts of renewable energy the company is adding to the grid is about one quarter of its peak demand during summer. <\/p>\n
Peak demand is when energy use is at its highest, especially during really hot or cold days when people are using more energy. For PGE, energy use is highest during those really hot days in the summer, Greene said.<\/p>\n
The addition is one of its largest renewable energy investments in the company\u2019s history, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just super excited that we\u2019re able to do this on behalf of customers,\u201d he said, adding that PGE focused on these projects because they will support customer affordability, energy reliability and the company\u2019s carbon emissions reduction effort.<\/p>\n
Related: Oregon to miss its 2035 greenhouse gas reduction benchmark by 2 years, report says<\/a><\/p>\n The additional solar power generation will expand existing renewable developments located in Sherman and Morrow counties. Both projects will also see battery storage as part of the expansion.<\/p>\n \u201cThose projects really are unique as we think about customer affordability because they rely on existing interconnection and transmission infrastructure, so it doesn\u2019t require a new build out of substations or transmission,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n Building new transmission costs billions of dollars, he said, and takes decades to get done. <\/p>\n Transmission challenges have been a major obstacle<\/a> to bringing renewable energy online in the Pacific Northwest, and one PGE is able to avoid with this project.<\/p>\n Greene said the company is looking for ways to provide additional renewable energy to its customers affordably. In this case, that means looking at existing projects and \u201ctrying to squeeze what\u2019s left out of the transmission system\u201d instead of building projects at new sites where new transmission lines would be necessary.<\/p>\n PGE will also boost battery storage capacity at two sites in Washington County.<\/p>\n Greene said the projects PGE announced this week also qualify for expiring federal tax credits that will reduce construction costs.<\/p>\n Last year, the Trump administration\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill made sweeping changes to when and how developers can receive tax credits for building renewable energy projects. <\/p>\n The tax credits could fund between 30% to 50% of most solar and wind projects, but the Trump-backed bill left developers with less time to start and end construction and tightened the requirements to quality.<\/p>\n Greene said three out of the four projects PGE is starting will receive a 40% tax credit and the other project will receive a 30% tax credit.<\/p>\n \u201cCapturing those tax credits before they expire is incredibly important for customer affordability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Making strides toward Oregon\u2019s greenhouse gas reduction goals<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly by 2050 is nearing a critical benchmark. Lawmakers have required utilities to eliminate 80% of the carbon emissions associated with the electricity they provide by 2030 and to fully eliminate these emissions by 2040.<\/p>\n But an analysis released in October<\/a> says data center proliferation and changes in federal policies are expected to put the state two years behind on upcoming benchmarks toward those goals.<\/p>\n Greene said PGE has made significant progress toward meeting the upcoming 2030 reduction goal with the projects it is now announcing, saying with these investments the company \u201cobviously had several bites at the apple.\u201d He said the company may be very close to achieving the 2030 goal on time, as it plans to add even more renewable energy projects in the next four years.<\/p>\n Solar panels and wind turbines work to create clean electric power, at Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility, May 24, 2022. Portland General Electric announced this week that the Morrow County, Ore., site is one of several locations where it will make significant investments into renewable energy in the coming years.<\/p>\n Kristyna Wentz-Graff \/ OPB<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we\u2019re doing is in support of those decarbonization goals, so you know, checking all those boxes, which is very unique,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019ve done a tremendous job of demonstrating that for a small utility and in the northwest corner of the U.S. \u2014 I think we punch above our weight.\u201d<\/p>\n While PGE has made significant steps towards meeting the state\u2019s goals, all of the region\u2019s investor-owned electric utilities face challenges as they work to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and meet the increased power demand from data centers, Renewable Northwest\u2019s regulatory affairs director Mike Goetz said.<\/p>\n Having a diverse range of renewable energy and storage capacity can help PGE strengthen its system, especially as it faces growing demand from data centers in Washington County.<\/p>\n \u201cThe two battery storage projects that it\u2019s announced in Washington County will add significant capacity and flexibility benefits to the PGE system, which will ultimately also help to lower costs to its customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But while the expansion and addition of battery storage is significant, Goetz said, for PGE to meet the 2030 benchmark, it has a steep hill to climb.<\/p>\n \u201cAny procurement at this point is a step in the right direction,\u201d he said. \u201cWe think that this round of procurement is sufficient to demonstrate continual progress in the near term. However, as PGE has acknowledged, they are going to have to procure a pretty vast quantity of resources to make sure that they can meet House Bill 2021\u2019s mandates in future years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Solar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TL3J5QRQJJA3XHFZUOHP65JVRU.jpg\")
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