February 26, 2025
House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment
Oregon State Capitol
Salem, OR 97301
Dear Chair Lively,
Cascade Policy Institute has participated in energy policy discussions for over two decades. Our primary concern is that state mandates are designed to diminish or prohibit dispatchable electricity sources – hydro, coal, natural gas and nuclear – over the next 15 years, while relying on intermittent sources to make up the difference.
The attached graphic from BPA’s website shows the problem with this approach. Nuclear and fossil fuels are used for baseload, while hydro provides balancing generation. Intermittent sources randomly go up and down regardless of load. Since the grid requires that supply and demand be in equilibrium at all times, wind and solar cannot be a solution.
Note that the single most reliable fuel source is nuclear, which puts out more than 1,000 MW at all hours of the day.
The PNUCC Regional Forecast from May 2024 estimated an annual electricity deficit of (11,036) average megawatts by 2033 for the Pacific NW. Given the lead time required for bringing new generation online, this constitutes a crisis.
I encourage you to support HB 2038 and HB 2410, which represent small steps in the right direction.
Sincerely,
John A. Charles, Jr.
President & CEO
