Pacific Power Makes Big Strides in Reducing Carbon Footprint

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News Release

PacifiCorp

Pacific Power CEO and president Stefan Bird told more than 300 business and government decision makers at Portland’s GoGreen Conference today that so far this year his company has dropped its carbon emissions by 14 percent and increased its use of renewable energy to supply customer needs by 39 percent.

“Customers from urban and rural areas, residential and business, and from both sides of the political aisle are telling us that they want cleaner energy,” Bird said. “We hear you. We do too. And, we intend to make that vision our reality.”

The new reality is demonstrated by the updates Bird shared at the conference about how quickly Pacific Power is reducing its carbon footprint while keeping customer rates down by operating on a least-cost basis:

“Our wind and solar is up 39 percent this year and by the end of 2016, we expect to have 3,034 megawatts of renewable capacity in service,” Bird said in his keynote address. “That’s 29 percent of our peak load. That’s an impressive gain by any measure, and it’s having a significant impact on emissions.”

“Our emissions year to date are down 14 percent, or nearly 4.8 million tons of carbon. That’s the equivalent of taking over 3.3 million passenger cars off the road for a year. We said we’d reduce our emissions, and we’re doing it,” Bird concluded.

While this performance includes all six states served by PacifiCorp, Pacific Power’s parent company, Bird called special attention to the landmark legislation in Oregon—the Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Act.

Pacific Power partnered with key stakeholders and the legislature during the 2016 special session to create innovative new public policy that is moving the state towards cleaner energy.

“By the year 2040, 50 percent of the power we provide in Oregon will be from renewable energy resources,” Bird said. “The law also takes coal out of Oregon by the year 2030. By all working together, we were able to identify a path forward that will get our customers the cleaner energy that they’re asking for in a way that is both workable and affordable.”