Clean electricity/coal transition plan passes Oregon House!

Oregon’s clean electricity and coal transition plan, House Bill 4036, passed its first big test on Monday, clearing the House floor on a 39-20 bipartisan vote.

The vote reflected both the historic collaboration of investor-owned utilities Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, clean energy/climate organizations and consumer advocates, and your efforts in contacting and educating House members on the importance of advancing the bill.

Now it’s on to the Senate! HB 4036 could reach the Senate floor next week, so it’s time to contact your state senators about supporting this critical next step to Oregon’s clean and affordable energy future.  (To find your legislators, go here.)

Through HB 4036, Oregon energy consumers would stop paying for coal-fired power by 2035. The bill also doubles the state’s 25% renewable portfolio standard for investor-owned utilities by 2040. In includes provisions for community solar with a low-income carve-out and for vehicle electrification, and affirms that cost-effective energy efficiency and demand response must be pursued before acquiring new generation resources.

HB 4036 should have little effect on rates and will cut Oregon’s electric sector carbon emissions in half by 2030. (Go here for a fuller description and additional links.)

Please contact your state senator now!

Thanks.

For more information, contact NW Energy Coalition policy director Wendy Gerlitz at wendy@nwenergy.org

 

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Three principals in the historic collaboration that created Oregon’s HB 4036 — Dave Robertson of NW Energy Coalition member utility Portland General Electric, Bob Jenks of Coalition member organization Citizens’ Utility Board, and our own policy director, Wendy Gerlitz — appeared on Portland’s “Thank You Democracy with Jefferson Smith” program on KXRY radio on Feb. 12. Listen here.