By Sam Herrin
July 2024
In 1975, the state of Oregon issued permits for Portland General Electric (PGE) to build a coal-fired power plant in Boardman, Oregon. With a 550-megawatt (MW) capacity, Boardman constituted a significant source of electricity—enough to power 90,000 homes. In 2009, it produced 15% of PGE’s total electricity supply.
In the 1980’s, global warming became a top-tier issue, and carbon dioxide replaced carbon monoxide as the focus of regulation and international activism. In this context, because PGE’s Boardman coal plant was the largest single source of CO2 in the state, it became an inviting target for environmental activists. An initiative by the EPA to reduce precursors to regional haze offered an opportunity for activists to press their case for the shutdown of Boardman. Due to the increasing burden of environmental regulations, in April 2010, PGE officially requested to close Boardman by the year 2020.
The future of electricity generation in Oregon is unsettling. The 2010 decision to shut down Boardman showcases this. What was originally a sensible, low-cost decision to burn coal for necessary baseload generation became a political battle that would produce a purely symbolic victory for environmental groups (including CUB): a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions that will never have a material effect on the global climate.
PGE has yet to find a long-term replacement for Boardman. Recent hydro contracts run out in the mid-2020s, merely pushing off the decision. Coupled with the mandates in House Bill 2021, Oregon’s energy deficit is predicted to be larger than the capacity that came from Boardman.
Maintaining reliability while decreasing emissions is possible, but not at this level. Overbuilding renewables will cause rates to rise, and the deficits will not disappear, causing even greater price increases. By the time the crisis is felt at the consumer level, the activists, politicians, and utility executives who agreed to phase out fossil fuels will have moved on, no longer accountable for the disaster.
Chris Draus
Please use the word “Hydrocarbons”, instead of “Fossil Fuels”.