Help CUB Pass Landmark Legislation for a Coal-Free Oregon
Posted on February 20, 2016 by Samuel Pastrick
Tags, Energy
Many of you have been following our work crafting the Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Plan and now our work during the current legislative session to get it passed. This bill, if passed, will transition Oregon off coal by 2035 and to 50% renewables by 2040. We believe HB 4036 makes sense for Oregon. CUB has launched a petition that we’ll be presenting to the Senate next week, urging them to pass HB 4036. You can help by adding your signature today.
Bob Jenks (as well as Jeff Bissonnette before he left the CUB staff earlier this month) have invested hundreds of hours in this important legislation, which protects consumers in a myriad of ways. CUB helped negotiate agreement between the utilities and the environmental groups and stood solidly for consumers to protect reliability and affordability. I am very pleased to say that this hard work paid off when, on Monday February 15, the House passed this bill with a strong bi-partisan vote of 39 – 20.
The Senate had its first committee hearing on the bill on Wednesday, and Bob will be giving testimony in a second committee hearing on Monday. It is likely that the bill will end up with some changes so we are not sure at this time when it will come to the Senate floor for a vote. What we do know is that this bill is good policy for Oregon’s energy future.
Here are some things that you should know:
• 64% and 23% of Pacific Power’s and PGE’s respective energy mix is derived from coal.
• Coal is an old, dirty technology that requires ongoing capital investment in expensive pollution controls. We’ve said it before and I will say it again; CUB believes that reducing Oregon’s use of coal is the single most important action that Oregon can take to protect ratepayers from future costs associated with carbon regulation.
• Therefore, if the utilities choose to invest in coal, Oregonians WILL NOT be responsible to pay for those costs, which we estimate could have been in the billions.
• The cost of renewable energy has and continues to go down. In fact, rooftop solar pricing has dropped by 80% in the last five years and wind costs have fallen by more than two thirds.
• We do not anticipate that investing in renewables while transitioning off of coal will raise rates in a significant way. Two utility analyses and a third by an independent firm show anticipated rate increases of
<1% to about 1.5%, which we believe is not necessarily more expensive than the continued use of coal.
• This agreement will provide a real carbon emissions reduction of 30 million metric tons or the equivalent of taking 6.4 million cars off the road for a year.
We have been working for years to reduce Oregon’s dependence on coal-fired electricity generation because our long-term analysis shows that the costs of coal will only go up. HB 4036 transitions Oregon off coal in a thoughtful and flexible way so that affordability and reliability are protected.
Now you can help us tell your Senator that you believe this is good for Oregon too.
Click here to join us in creating a great energy future for Oregon.
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! You can also keep up to date with breaking news by joining our email list today!
09/05/22 | 0 Comments | Help CUB Pass Landmark Legislation for a Coal-Free Oregon