2021 CUB Conference Sneak Preview: 100% Clean Electricity
Posted on August 13, 2021 by Samuel Pastrick
Tags, Conference & Events
On October 15, CUB is hosting its annual energy policy conference, Changing Climates: Reliability and Resilience in our Energy Systems. And for the second year in a row, CUB will hold the conference in an entirely online format to ensure safety and accessibility for as many people interested in attending as possible. This blog serves as a sneak preview of the first of four breakout panel topics that will form the bulk of the day’s agenda: 100% Clean Electricity: What Does it Take?
On June 26, the Oregon Legislature passed HB 2021, a historic bill to reduce climate pollution. HB 2021 is ambitious but achievable legislation, backed by the largest and most diverse coalition to have ever supported Oregon energy policy. The bill now serves as a fitting backdrop for this panel and the 2021 CUB Conference as a whole.
HB 2021 requires Oregon’s two largest electric utilities, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, to deliver 100 percent clean electricity to their Oregon customers by 2040. It makes these same requirements of unregulated electric service suppliers that serve many of Oregon’s large industrial customers who have been allowed to exit the regulated utility system. The bill further establishes the interim target of an 80 percent emissions reduction by 2030, and a $50 million fund for small-scale community energy projects.
It also ensures strong labor protections for utility-scale energy projects and prohibits construction of any new fossil fuel generating facility in Oregon. HB 2021 even creates a pathway for municipalities with climate action plans to rapidly reduce pollution by procuring clean electricity from their electric utility.
It wasn’t long ago that CUB questioned Oregon’s ability to develop and maintain a 100 percent clean electric system while ensuring affordability for customers and reliability for the electric system. CUB now believes that doing so is not only possible, but necessary, as the Western United States battles a hotter, dryer, and more volatile climate.
The question is no longer whether we should respond to the climate crisis; it’s how we should respond. We know that cleaning up Oregon’s electricity supply is essential to ensure a viable fuel source for heating and cooling our buildings, and for transportation. But after passage of HB 2021, does Oregon now have a map? Is it detailed enough? Does it address social and environmental injustice? Does system reliability require resource diversity? If so, does resource diversity require Oregon to take a regional approach to achieving 100 percent clean electricity? Are system reliability and regionalization at odds with local economic development?
To help answer these questions in a session with the CUB Conference audience, CUB has convened a remarkable group of panelists: Meredith Connolly, Oregon Director of Climate Solutions; Nikita Daryanani, Climate & Energy Policy Manager at Coalition of Communities of Color; Nicole Hughes, Executive Director of Renewable Northwest; and Representative Khanh Pham, House District 46, Oregon Legislature.
Interested in keeping up with CUB conference news between now and October 15? Join our email list (select “Policy Conference” in the form) to get updates right to your inbox!
Visit oregoncub.org/cubcon21 to learn more and to register for the 2021 CUB Conference. CUB is grateful to our sponsors for making this event possible, particularly Polar Bear Sponsors NW Natural, Pacific Power, and Portland General Electric; and Media Sponsor Clearing Up. Sponsorship packages are available at a variety of levels – to inquire about CUB Conference sponsorship opportunities, contact Thomas Jerin at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or (503) 227-1984 ext. 0.
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
09/05/22 | 0 Comments | 2021 CUB Conference Sneak Preview: 100% Clean Electricity