Bill to move Oregon off coal power gets hearing

State utility regulators have serious concerns about a proposal to transition Oregon off coal power, legislators learned at a hearing on the bill Tuesday.

“The scope of the bill is broader than we initially thought it would be,” Jason Eisdorfer, the Oregon Public Utility Commission’s public utility director, told a House committee. “There are issues that we don’t quite understand.”

Oregon’s largest electric utilities drafted House Bill 4036 in partnership with environmental groups last month, in an attempt to head off a November ballot measure campaign.

The billl would transition Oregon off coal energy by 2030, and incrementally increase electricity produced from renewable energy sources to 50 percent by 2040.

The agreement applies only to Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, which together provide about 70 percent of the state’s electricity.

A long list of groups are lining up behind the proposal, including the Oregon Environmental Council, Sierra Club, Climate Solutions, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, League of Conservation Voters, Renewable Northwest and League of Women Voters of Oregon.

“When both utilities know that they have to get coal out of the supply and increase renewables, they can turn their attention to getting the job done in the most cost-efficient way instead of worrying that they might be doing something the other one isn’t,” said Rachel Shimshak, executive director of Renewable Northwest.

While the PUC doesn’t support or oppose the bill, Eisdorfer said, it is concerned that the deal simply shifts coal power consumption outside Oregon’s boundaries.

“By not changing the coal plants, there really is no carbon reduction value,” he said.

It also worries that the predicted rate impacts are understated.

“The forecast ended in 2030 which is precisely when it gets interesting, ratewise,” he said.

And, he said, the bill seeks to overturn several recent PUC decisions that could result in shifting risk or protecting the utility from competitive pressures.

Meanwhile, a coalition led by Association of Oregon Counties is campaigning for a proposed amendment that would require at least 8 percent of the two utilities’ electrical load come from small-scale community renewable energy projects.

The hearing is scheduled to continue at 8 a.m. Thursday in the House Committee on Energy and Environment, Hearing Room E at the Capitol.

Also on Tuesday, a Senate committee began hearing testimony on a proposal to replace Oregon’s greenhouse gas reduction goals with enforceable, phased-in limits.

Called the Healthy Climate Act, Senate Bill 1574 would create a “cap and invest” program similar to California’s.

Legislative leaders have said the bill is unlikely to pass.

tloew@statesmanjournal.com, (503) 399-6779 or follow at Twitter.com/Tracy_Loew