Portland, Ore. – Western utilities are joining forces to help ensure clean energy resources will be adequate to serve the growing demand in the region, while also managing costs and maintaining reliability for customers.
Companies from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia are joining under Western Power Pool (WPP) to commit to a binding resource adequacy program in the region, called the Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP).
Over 11 utilities in four states and territories spanning Canada and the Western Region of the United States have already signaled their intent to join WRAP ahead of the Dec. 16 deadline. Current members include Avista Utilities, Calpine Energy Solutions, Chelan Public Utility District, Clatskanie People’s Utility District, Eugene Water & Electric, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, PowerEx Corp, Puget Sound Energy, Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power.
By bringing together a group of clean-energy-focused utilities, the WRAP is expected to provide greater reliability, offer the ability to leverage regional diversity when planning for resource adequacy and enable access to capacity reserves during times of peak demand. The program enables managed costs and better service for customers throughout the region by allowing utilities to act together and share assets and infrastructure upgrades where necessary.
The WRAP would also provide the common planning standards and transparency needed to address the West’s changing resource mix and rapidly expanding load growth.
“The WRAP is an important step forward for reliability in the region as we face the growing challenge of resource adequacy,” said Sarah Edmonds, CEO and President of Western Power Pool. “We are thrilled to formally welcome so many distinguished companies into the WRAP. They share our commitment to working together to solve the challenge of resource adequacy in the West. We look forward to more utilities following their lead and joining later this month.”
“Maintaining reliability is critical as we move forward with advancing decarbonization and the WRAP would allow us to do this in a way that is most beneficial to our customers and manage costs,” said Maria Pope, President and CEO at Portland General Electric. “The WRAP will allow us to pool resources and share in the diversity of the region. PGE applauds the work of the WPP team in shepherding this program to the next phase and bringing this substantial group together to create a meaningful partnership.”
The participants and their stakeholders across the West are working with WPP to ensure that the different market options being explored will work with WRAP in a way that preserves the WRAP value proposition. While the WRAP is a first of its kind program, regional adequacy programs are currently in place in all ISO/RTO markets.
About Avista Utilities
Avista Utilities is involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy. We provide energy services and electricity to 408,000 customers and natural gas to 375,000 customers in a service territory that covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.7 million. Avista Utilities is an operating division of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA). For more information, please visit www.myavista.com.
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509-495-4174
About Calpine Energy Solutions
Calpine Energy Solutions is an Electricity Service Supplier authorized by the Oregon Public Utility Commission to serve commercial, industrial and institutional customers located in the service territories of Portland General Electric and/or PacifiCorp. Calpine Solutions offers a suite of commodity products and commodity services structured to meet the unique needs of large electricity users and to capture the benefits of choice at the retail level of electricity and natural gas consumption. Calpine Energy Solutions has been actively serving the electricity needs of customers in Oregon for nearly two decades. Calpine Energy Solutions is owned by Calpine Corporation. Calpine Corporation is a premier competitive power generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources with operations in competitive power markets throughout the United States including the Pacific Northwest. For more information visit https://www.calpine.com/
About Chelan PUD
Chelan Public Utility District was created by a vote of the people in 1936 and delivered its first power in 1947. The PUD is governed by a locally elected five-member Board of Commissioners. The general manager uses the policies and guiding principles set by the commission to generate and deliver electricity from our three dams to utilities that serve customers across the Pacific Northwest as well as to nearly 50,000 retail customers in the county. The PUD also provides water, sewer and wholesale telecommunications services.
Media Contact:
509-661-4320
About Clatskanie People’s Utility District
Clatskanie People’s Utility District (CPUD) is a publicly owned electric utility located in Clatskanie, OR. Formed as a political subdivision of the state of Oregon under Oregon Revised Statute 261, a five-member elected board represents their customer-owners throughout the service territory. CPUD’s distribution system spans over 105 square miles in Clatsop and Columbia counties, serving approximately 3,745 residential customer accounts, 554 commercial accounts and 6 industrial customers. Since 1943, CPUD has provided affordable power while supporting community enhancement and economic development opportunities. The future of energy production is changing and CPUD is committed to finding innovative ways to continue providing its customers with clean, reliable electricity, at the best energy value. With 36 skilled employees, CPUD strives to create a familial work environment where respect, inclusivity, interdepartmental collaboration, and gratitude for serving their customer-owners are the main priorities. Besides the dedicated work the Clatskanie PUD employees provide for the District, staff is devoted to volunteering countless hours for the non-profits in the Clatskanie and Rainier areas. Staff participates in many of the community events and helps foster positive relationships with its customer-owners and community organizations. The utility provides generous energy assistance funds through their own Share the Warmth program each year, and employees donate funds to the local food banks with their annual food drives. CPUD is proud to provide its customer-owners with one of the lowest rates in the nation and the lowest residential rates in Oregon.
Media Contact:
communications@clatskaniepud.com
About the Eugene Water & Electric Board
The Eugene Water & Electric Board is Oregon’s largest customer-owned utility. Founded in 1911, EWEB provides water and electricity to approximately 96,000 customers in the Eugene-Springfield area. EWEB’s service area covers 236 square miles with a population of more than 200,000 people, including major institutions such as the University of Oregon. A five-member elected Board of Commissioners governs the utility, which does not operate to earn a profit or to serve the investment needs of stockholders. Employing approximately 500 people, EWEB serves the people of Eugene by embodying core values of safety, reliability, responsibility and community. EWEB owns four energy generation facilities, including hydroelectric projects on the McKenzie and Clackamas Rivers, and leads watershed protection measures with local landowners and environmental organizations. With one of the greenest energy supplies in the nation, approximately 90% of EWEB’s power comes from carbon-free sources, and EWEB is committed to achieving a 95% carbon-free energy portfolio by 2030.
Media Contact:
541-685-7364
on.orlowski@eweb.org“>aaron.orlowski@eweb.org
About PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is one of the lowest-cost electrical providers in the United States, serving 2 million customers. The company operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming and as Pacific Power in California, Oregon and Washington. PacifiCorp provides safe and reliable service through a vast, integrated system of generation and transmission that serves hundreds of communities as the largest private owner/operator of transmission and the largest regulated utility owner of wind power in the West. For more information, visit www.pacificorp.com.
Media Contact:
503-813-6018
About Portland General Electric Company
Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) is a fully integrated energy company based in Portland, Oregon. The company serves approximately 900,000 customers with a service area population of 2 million Oregonians in 51 cities. PGE owns 16 generation plants across Oregon and other Northwestern states and maintains and operates 14 public parks and recreation areas. For more than 130 years, PGE has powered the advancement of society, delivering safe, affordable, and reliable energy to Oregonians. PGE and its approximately 3,000 employees are working with customers to build a clean energy future. Together with its customers, PGE has the No. 1 voluntary renewable energy program in the U.S. PGE is committed to achieving at least an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from power served to customers by 2030 and 100% reduction by 2040. In 2021, PGE became the first U.S. utility to join The Climate Pledge. For the ninth year in a row PGE achieved a perfect score on the 2021 Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. In 2021, PGE, employees, retirees, and the PGE Foundation donated $4.8 million and volunteered 15,760 hours with more than 300 nonprofits across Oregon.
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About Powerex Corp.
Powerex is the exclusive marketer of BC Hydro’s clean surplus power and surplus capabilities and has access to a wide portfolio of market resources to support our trade activities. The surplus capability of the BC Hydro generating system and Powerex’s portfolio of transmission service rights enable Powerex to buy, sell and shape power deliveries to our customers across the Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC) region. We serve the needs of over 250 trade partners in energy and environmental product markets in Western North America. From our 24/7 trade floor in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Powerex trades wholesale energy for terms ranging from hours to days, weeks, months and longer, under standard agreements or on terms that are custom designed to meet our customers’ requirements.
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About Puget Sound Energy
Puget Sound Energy is Washington state’s oldest regional energy company, serving approximately 1.2 million electric customers and over 900,000 natural gas customers in 10 counties across 6,000 square miles, primarily in the Puget Sound region of Western Washington. PSE set an aspirational goal to reach net zero carbon emissions across the entire business by 2045 and go even further by enabling other sectors to reduce carbon emissions. Over the next four years, PSE will nearly double the amount of clean energy in its portfolio, accelerating efforts toward meeting those clean energy goals.
Media Contact:
888-831-7250
oom@pse.com“>psenewsroom@pse.com
About Tacoma Power:
Tacoma Power is a division of Tacoma Public Utilities. Publicly owned since 1893, we provide electric service to nearly 179,000 customers in Tacoma, University Place, Fircrest, and portions of Fife, Lakewood, Federal Way, Steilacoom, Joint Base Lewis-McChord and incorporated Pierce County, as far south as Roy. For more information, visit MyTPU.org/Power.
Media Contact:
253-753-3119
About Seattle City Light
Seattle City Light, provides affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible electric power to nearly 1 million people in the city of Seattle and neighboring suburbs of Shoreline, Burien, Lake Forest Park and portions of Normandy Park, Tukwila, Renton, SeaTac, and unincorporated King County, a service area covering 131.31 square miles. Created by the residents of Seattle in 1902, City Light is owned by the community it serves and funded by customer rates, not taxes. It is a nationally recognized leader in energy efficiency, renewable resource development, and environmental stewardship. City Light’s power generation system consists of seven hydroelectric plants on the Pend Oreille, Skagit, Cedar, and Tolt rivers with a combined capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts.
