Taking Another Step toward a Clean Energy Future, PGE Shares Draft RFP for New Renewable Resources
Seeks input from stakeholders, potential bidders
PORTLAND, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#cleanenergyfuture–Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) has taken another step
toward achieving a clean and reliable energy future for its customers
and the communities it serves by circulating a draft request for
proposals seeking 100 average megawatts of renewable power generating
resources. The company will hold workshops on Friday, March 2 to provide
additional information to stakeholders and potential bidders.
The additional renewable energy – the equivalent of one large wind farm
– is expected to help PGE meet its proportionate share of Oregon’s
greenhouse gas reduction goal, which will require cutting carbon
emissions in the utility’s system 80 percent by 2050. It will also count
toward achievement of Oregon’s renewable portfolio standard. Under the
Oregon standard, PGE must supply 50 percent of its customers’
electricity needs from qualifying renewable resources by 2040.
“By continuing to drive down emissions using a diverse portfolio of
clean, reliable and renewable energy resources, and promoting
economy-wide emission reductions through electrification and smart
energy use, we will bring a clean, cost-effective energy future to
Oregon,” said Maria Pope, PGE’s president and CEO. “This request for
proposals for renewable energy will be an open, competitive process to
assure we are able to identify the best options to expand our renewable
portfolio while keeping electric service affordable and reliable for our
customers.”
RFP details and process
Bids submitted when the RFP is finalized and issued must meet a minimum
size of at least 10 megawatts, and can represent a variety of
technologies including geothermal, biomass, biogas, solar, wind and
hydroelectric power. Bids can also be structured in a variety of ways,
including power purchase agreements or proposals for facilities that PGE
would own and operate. If bids received prove cost effective for service
to customers, PGE may acquire a single resource or a mix of resources to
achieve the total desired renewable energy target, and expects the
resources acquired to be brought into the company’s portfolio in the
2020-2021 timeframe.
By sharing the draft, PGE is giving potential bidders and interested
stakeholders an opportunity to ask questions and offer suggestions to
improve the RFP before it is issued formally. The company will respond
to all feedback received. Any resulting changes will be incorporated
prior to issuing the final RFP this spring.
The RFP will be conducted under guidelines established by the Oregon
Public Utility Commission and is a significant step in implementing
PGE’s current integrated resource plan, which the OPUC acknowledged in
2017. Consistent with those guidelines, the OPUC has retained an
independent evaluator, Bates White, to monitor PGE’s procurement
process. Bates White will host a website, available next week, where
bidders and stakeholders may ask questions of PGE regarding the RFP so
that the answers will be available to all participants in the process.
PGE will hold two workshops on Friday, March 2 to provide information
and answer questions for potential bidders and stakeholders. The
stakeholder workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, PST, in the Sky
Bridge Conference Room of the 2 World Trade Center Building, 121 SW
Salmon Street in Portland. The bidder workshop will be held from 1 p.m.
to 3 p.m. at the same location.
The draft RFP and appendices are available online at www.PortlandGeneral.com/2018RenewableRFP.
About Portland General Electric Company: Portland General
Electric (NYSE: POR) is a fully-integrated energy company based in
Portland, Oregon, serving 875,000 customers in 51 cities. For more than
125 years, PGE has been delivering safe, reliable energy to Oregonians.
With 2,900 employees across the state, PGE is committed to building a
cleaner, more efficient energy future. Together with its customers, PGE
has the number one voluntary renewable energy program in the U.S. For
more information, visit PortlandGeneral.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute
forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They
are not guarantees of future events. Rather, they are based on current
expectations, estimates, beliefs and assumptions and are subject to
uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual events
or results may differ materially from the statements made.
Forward-looking statements made in this press release include statements
regarding the company’s energy strategy for future periods, the
implementation and outcome of requests for proposals, and the
acquisition of additional resources to meet retail customer demand and
the requirements of Oregon’s Renewable Energy Standard. These
forward-looking statements are based upon our assumptions about and
assessment of the future, which may or may not prove true, and involve a
number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risk
factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form
10-K, the Company’s reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
POR-F
Source: Portland General Electric Company
Contacts
Portland General Electric Company
Steve Corson, 503-464-8444
[email protected]