In 2000, the electricity grid was named the top engineering achievement of the 20th century by the National Academy of Engineering. In 2021, Oregon politicians decided to dismantle it. Prepare yourself for blackouts. State legislators passed a law two years ago (House Bill 2021) that prohibits the construction of any electricity generating facilities using fossil […]
Portland General Electric is living a virtual power plant pipe dream, and ratepayers need it to come back to reality. PGE recently told regulators that “it is estimated that as much as 25% of flexibility could come from customers and distributed energy resources (DERs)” on the hottest and coldest days by 2030, from sources including […]
The race is on for a reliable power grid. A newly redeveloped model used by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council to calculate annual loss of load probability (LOLP) shows significantly higher LOLP in 2023 compared to previous predictions. The LOLP calculates the likelihood that utilities will have to take some kind of emergency measure […]
Recent freezing temperatures and power outages in both Oregon and Texas demonstrate why going “all in” on intermittent energy resources like solar and wind power will end up costing utility customers. Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency on Saturday, February 13, due to a snow and ice storm that left up to 300,000 […]