Pacific Power’s Plans to Finalize Natrium Deal Stalled by Oregon Regulators

Pacific Power filed its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with Oregon regulators in December 2021. The utility’s plan included Natrium, a small modular reactor nuclear plant to be built in an old coal plant in Wyoming. CUB’s analysis found that the Natrium plan involved unreasonable risks and costs for customers. Oregon regulators agreed with our analysis and did not acknowledge the utility’s plan as presented. This is a major victory for Pacific Power customers.

Oregon utilities generally file IRPs every two years. These plans look out 20 years into the future to determine a least cost, least risk set of resources (such as power plants or energy efficiency) to meet future needs. The utilities outline a set of action items for the next 3-5 years to build the chosen set of resources. Regulators review the plan and individual action items and either acknowledge or reject them.

In some cases, they might tell the utility to collect more data and then update the IRP. Acknowledgment implies that regulators think the plan/action items are reasonable and in the customer interest.

Oregon is on track to make a fast transition from dirty resources, like coal, to clean energy. Under Oregon law, customers must not pay for coal fueled electricity starting in 2030. CUB is actively supporting this transition.

At the same time, CUB wants to ensure that the transition does not leave Oregonians paying for overly expensive and risky utility projects. Natrium was a perfect example of a resource that could end up being just that. Nuclear projects often end up with ballooning costs that far exceed expectations.

Pacific Power’s IRP laid out the utility’s plan to complete its deal with the company that would build Natrium. CUB’s review found that the IRP had little to no information on the costs and possible risks of this untested nuclear technology. CUB researched and presented a vivid account of risks that customers would be exposed to if the planned Natrium deal was approved.

This outcome demonstrates CUB’s success in protecting Oregon customers from the costs of reckless utility investments. CUB believes Pacific Power needs to do its homework on Natrium and convince regulators that there is sufficient customer protection before requesting acknowledgement of this project.

Oregonians deserve a clean energy future that is affordable. CUB will continue to advocate for that in future resource IRPs for all Oregon utilities.

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