| By Barbara Vergetis Lundin |
After seeking input from stakeholders, the Oregon Public Utilities
Commission (PUC) has adopted a set of recommendations requiring Pacific
Power, and its parent company PacifiCorp, to increase transparency and
more fully evaluate the alternatives to continuing to invest in its
aging fleet of coal plants. The recommendations include more disclosure
about the viability of its coal plants and more seriously considering
clean energy.
Pacific Power's energy mix is currently made up mostly of coal, with less than 10 percent renewable energy.
Pacific Power has been denied rate increases for its coal plants in the past and been reprimanded by the PUC for seeking to charge customers for retrofits on old coal plants without first fully examining the alternatives.
For example, in 2012, the PUC rejected $17 million PacifiCorp was seeking from customers for expensive coal retrofits.
More recently, in July 2013, the PUC refused to acknowledge Pacific Power's coal plant investments at two units in Wyoming and Utah, making it difficult for the utility to recoup these expenditures.
The PUC's actions are driven, in part, by the notion that multi-million dollar expenditures on coal plants are not the least-cost option for Oregon customers. The recommendations will be used to inform the upcoming 2015 Integrated Resource Plan process, in which the utility is required to submit a plan detailing what forms of energy it intends to invest in and supply to customers in the coming years.
For more:
- see this order from the Oregon PUC
Related Article:
PacifiCorp coal under scrutiny in several states
Pacific Power's energy mix is currently made up mostly of coal, with less than 10 percent renewable energy.
Pacific Power has been denied rate increases for its coal plants in the past and been reprimanded by the PUC for seeking to charge customers for retrofits on old coal plants without first fully examining the alternatives.
For example, in 2012, the PUC rejected $17 million PacifiCorp was seeking from customers for expensive coal retrofits.
More recently, in July 2013, the PUC refused to acknowledge Pacific Power's coal plant investments at two units in Wyoming and Utah, making it difficult for the utility to recoup these expenditures.
The PUC's actions are driven, in part, by the notion that multi-million dollar expenditures on coal plants are not the least-cost option for Oregon customers. The recommendations will be used to inform the upcoming 2015 Integrated Resource Plan process, in which the utility is required to submit a plan detailing what forms of energy it intends to invest in and supply to customers in the coming years.
For more:
- see this order from the Oregon PUC
Related Article:
PacifiCorp coal under scrutiny in several states
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