Portland General Electric has outlined a path to net-zero emissions that relies on tripling clean energy assets and utilizing customer-sited distributed energy resources for grid resiliency.
The Oregon utility shared plans Friday to reduce emissions by at least 80% by 2030, 90% by 2035, and to reach zero emissions by 2040. To reach the 2030 goal, PGE will eliminate coal from its portfolio and approximately 1,500 – 2,000 MW of clean and renewable resources and approximately 800 MW of non-emitting dispatchable capacity resources.
"We are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining an affordable, reliable energy future for everyone," said Brett Sims, PGE Vice President of Strategy, Regulation and Energy Supply. "Working collaboratively with our stakeholders, we are advancing plans to add more renewables and non-emitting resources and partnering with our customers on building an equitable, two-way electric grid."
PGE expects 25% of power needed on the hottest and coldest days to come from distributed energy resources like solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles by 2030. The utility anticipates adding four times as much distributed solar and storage than exists today for a total of 500 MW by the end of the decade.
A bill approved by Oregon lawmakers in June mandates nearly all carbon emissions be eliminated from the power grid by 2040.
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