Oregon and hydroelectric power

Summary: Oregon has historically relied on hydroelectric power for its energy but is working to develop renewable resources, including solar and wind power.

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest, one of the largest states in area but with a total population of only 4.2 million, making it only the twenty-seventh most populous state in 2023. The timber industry has been historically central to the state’s economy but has declined significantly in recent decades, offset somewhat by the rise of the Oregon technology sector and the so-called Silicon Forest of the Portland metropolitan area. The largest corporations headquartered in the state include Nike, Precision Castparts, FLIR Systems, StanCorp, and Schnitzer Steel. The dot-com bust at the beginning of the 21st century hit the state’s technology sector hard, but it has become a popular site for data centers because of its cool climate and the low cost of electricity. Amazon, Google, and Facebook, for example, all operate important data centers in Oregon.

Diversification

In general, Oregon has attempted to diversify its economy and no longer relies as heavily on natural resources as its three historically primary sectors—timber, salmon, and agriculture—have done. The emphasis on the technology sector has aided Portland and brought many new residents to an area that has developed a reputation as a liberal white-collar mecca, but this industry has left the rural parts of Oregon out, and the benefits brought by the construction industry boom did not survive the collapse of that boom with the worldwide financial crisis of the late 2000s.

One of the draws for the technology sector has been the low cost of energy in Oregon. Because of its longtime reliance on hydroelectric power, Oregon ranked third in renewable energy among the fifty states. In 2023, Oregon got 62 percent of its electricity generation from renewable sources. Hydropower led the way by providing 42 percent of the state’s energy. However, hydropower had provided more than half the state’s energy at one time. The 2023 figure was down due to a devastating drought that had affected the region in the early 2020s. In the early twenty-first century, coal was the second-largest energy source in the state, but Oregon moved away from coal in the 2010s and 2020s. As a result, the state consumed very little of the raw material in 2022.

Oregon also has significant geothermal resources, with a large geothermal district heating system in Klamath Falls. For a brief period, Oregon had a single nuclear power plant, the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant, a pressurized-water reactor plant southeast of Rainier. From its commissioning in 1976 until Portland General Electric decommissioned it in 1993, it contributed about 12 percent of the state’s electricity. Environmentalists opposed it from the start, and protests in its first year of operation led to nearly one hundred arrests (though no convictions). Its early decommissioning was prompted by the discovery of a steam generator tube leak only a week after Portland General Electric had spent $4.5 million to defeat ballot measures that would have forced the plant to close; documents leaked from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed that some staff scientists were unconvinced that the plant could be made safe again. The decommissioning and detonation of the plant took thirteen years. There have been no serious attempts since to commission a commercial nuclear power plant in the state.

The wind energy resources in Oregon are considerable but underdeveloped. The Oregon legislature has twice encouraged the development of these resources, first by passing a net-metering law in 1999 that encouraged consumer wind power systems as a way for households to reduce their energy bills and their carbon footprint, and later in 2007 by requiring that, by 2025, 25 percent of an electrical suppliers’ electricity must be generated by renewable sources. The state reached that goal as 63 percent of electricity generation was from renewables in 2023. The largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world, the Danish company Vestas, has located its US headquarters in Portland.

A 2010 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory claimed that Oregon has the potential for more than 27,000 megawatts of onshore wind power, vastly in excess of the previous estimate of 5,000 megawatts touted by wind power advocates. Over the course of the twenty-first century, wind power increased considerably in the state, accounting for 15 percent of the electricity generated in Oregon in 2023. Portland General Electric was awarded a contract in 2009 to develop the largest wind farm in Oregon, using more than 300 turbines across 30 square miles. The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm began operation in 2012 and was able to produce 845 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Solar power has grown in the twenty-first century, again thanks in part to the net-metering law and the requirement placed on electricity producers. A 2007 law also required that public entities spend 1.5 percent of their construction budgets for new or renovated buildings and on-site solar technology, which helped affirm the state’s commitment to developing solar power resources. Tax credits were available for both residences and businesses, and long-term fixed-rate loans were available in amounts up to $20 million for renewable energy investments. Oregon's investment in renewable energy was successful; in 2023, about 4 percent of Oregon's electricity generation came from solar power.

Oregon was the first state to install solar panels on the state capitol building in 2002. In 2008, the first solar highway in the United States was completed by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which oversaw the installation of solar panels along the interchange of Interstate 5 and Interstate 205.

Bibliography

Condon, Patrick M. Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010.

"Oregon." US Energy Information Administration, 18 Apr. 2024, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=OR. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.

"Oregon Clean Energy Plan." PacifiCorp, 2024, www.pacificorp.com/energy/oregon-clean-energy-plan. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.

Philander, S. George, ed. “Oregon.” Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2012.