Wondering Where Your Power Comes From?
Posted on December 14, 2011 by Gordon Feighner
Tags, Consumers and Utility Customers, Generation, Transmission, Distribution
When you flip on the lights or turn on your furnace, do you ever stop to wonder about where the electricity that powers your daily life comes from? Most people assume that almost all of our power comes from the big hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. While that may have been the case 40 or 50 years ago, growth in the Northwest has created the need for additional sources of energy to complement the output from the dams. Now less than half of Oregon’s electricity comes from hydropower. Legal decisions regarding how the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) distributes power from the dams also mean that PGE and Pacific Power customers actually receive very little energy from the federal hydro system. So, if our energy isn’t coming from the dams, where is it being generated?
The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) is helping to answer that question with a great new visual tool that shows the fuel mix that powers Oregon. The state’s two largest utilities, PGE and Pacific Power, are broken out separately, so most users can see where the actual electricity that is flowing to their home came from. Also available are aggregate resource mix descriptions for the state as a whole and for consumer-owned utilities. All of this data is presented in a simple, user-friendly web page. There’s also an interactive map that shows where each power plant, dam, wind farm, or other resource is located. Tools like this one can go a long way in helping Oregonians understand the environmental impact of their energy usage, as well as the claims that are made in utility advertisements.
If you’re unhappy that a big chunk of your electricity comes from coal-fired power plants (for PGE, it’s 26%; for Pacific Power, it’s 66%), there are a few programs that help customers increase the amount of renewable energy used by their utility. PGE’s Green Source program ensures that all of the electricity you purchase each month is offset by renewable energy sources (a blend of low-impact hydro, wind, geothermal, and biomass). This program adds about $9 to the average customer’s monthly bill. PGE’s Clean Wind program enables customers to purchase wind power in 200 kWh increments at $3.50 apiece. I personally buy three units each month, which averages out over the year to completely offsetmy entire annual electricity usage.
Pacific Power customers can enroll in the Blue Sky renewable energy program, which offsets electricity purchases with wind energy. Customers can purchase 100 kWh increments for $1.95 each, or can opt to have their entire bill offset in a manner that mirrors PGE’s Green Source program. A number of consumer-owned utilities in Oregon, including EWEB and Emerald PUD, also offer options that allow customers to purchase a greener mix of electricity.
Although none of these programs will ensure that the actual electrons that flow through the power lines to your house were generated with renewable energy, they do ensure that the total dollars customers spend on these programs go towards the purchase of new renewable energy projects above and beyond what is required by Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. That means each block of energy you buy ensures that an equivalent amount of energy from coal is not being produced for your utility’s system. All of these programs are audited by the Oregon Public Utility Commission each year to ensure that the utilities are giving them the proper accounting treatment and honoring their renewable purchasing obligations. Even though Oregon is a long way from having most of our energy provided by renewable sources, these programs are helping to move us closer to that goal.
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03/28/17 | 1 Comment | Wondering Where Your Power Comes From?