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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2020)
LOCAL & STATE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2020 BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A Oregon’s coal-free future: Where does the replacement power come from? ■ The state’s last coal-fired power plant, in Morrow County near Boardman, is slated to close by the end of this year By Nick Rosenberger For EO Media Group Every day, electricity crackles across power lines hanging over the sparsely populated counties of Uma- tilla, Morrow, Gilliam and Sherman that border the Columbia River. With the ongoing global climate crisis, the debate about how this electricity can be produced by cleaner, renewable energy continues to heat up. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the case of Portland General Electric’s attempts to shift away from coal-generated electricity. As the state’s last coal-fi red plant closes in Morrow County by the end of 2020, utilities are facing a complex road ahead to close the gap between renewable and non- renewable generation. PGE, along with NextEra Energy — one of North America’s leading renew- able energy companies — is building the Wheatridge Renewable Energy facil- ity in Morrow County. The 380-megawatt facility will employ wind, solar and battery storage as one of the nation’s largest emissions- free electricity producers. It will open this year to power 100,000 homes. Despite breaking records for Oregon’s largest renew- able energy facility, however, it will not fully cover the roughly 600 megawatts pro- duced by the soon-to-be-shut- tered Boardman coal-fi red plant. This raises a series of questions about how utili- ties will fulfi ll the needs of Oregonians while promoting a cleaner, sustainable future for energy generation. PGE and Oregon’s other providers, such as Pacifi Corp, have several avenues for- ward in the coming years as the effects of climate change continue to ravage parts of the state. Associated Press / File The Boardman coal-fi red power plant is scheduled to close in 2020, as part of Oregon’s plan to meet federal haze-reduction standards. Associated Press / File The Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, located in the Columbia River Gorge, is owned by Portland General Electric. the industry as the costs of renewables decrease and consumer appetite increases. Over the past decade, the cost of solar energy gen- eration has fallen 89% and wind power costs have been trimmed by 70%, according to Lazard’s 2019 Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis. These decreases have made renewables more competitive with tradi- tional nonrenewable energy sources such as coal. In 2019, wind cost roughly $41 per megawatt hour, compared Declining costs of with $109 for coal. renewable energy And, while 2016 legislation The most popular op- set a goal of 50% new renew- tion for Oregon, and most able energy production in the benefi cial for combating state by 2040, many experts climate change, is expanding believe it can reach an even the state’s renewable energy higher percentage. infrastructure. It is likely “Most people who work in the best, cheapest and saf- the electricity industry agree est option that utilities can that anywhere from 80-90% undertake. of renewable energy is totally However, it comes with its doable,” said Rebecca Smith, own set of limitations and a senior policy analyst at the challenges. Oregon Department of En- As technology advances, ergy. “That last 10% is where Oregon utilities have you see a lot more difference recognized the evolution of of opinion between people.” SCHOOLS Continued from Page 1A Superintendent Mark Witty outlined the case for returning to in-person classes for preschoolers at Haines and Keating and for all students in Grades K-6 throughout the District. Students in Grades 7-12 will continue to take online classes, even if younger students do return to classrooms Oct. 12, Witty said. That’s because state guidelines call for students to interact with 50 or fewer people per week. That is not possible for students at Baker Middle School and Baker High School because of their rotating class schedules, which put them in contact with up to 100 people per week, Witty said. The younger students, on the other hand, meet in self-contained classrooms, which makes it easier to limit the number of people each student is in contact with. The school board’s discussion was prompted in part by recent declining trends in the number of COVID-19 cases in Baker County. The county, which has a popula- tion density of less than 6 people per square mile, has less stringent standards to meet to allow students “You cannot turn the wind on and off when you need it, or the sun. They are variable. Their output may come and go during any given day and we need other resources we can turn on and off to ensure reliable supply for customers.” — Steve Corson, spokesman, Portland General Electric Bryson Robertson, as- sociate professor of civil and construction engineering at Oregon State University and co-director of the Pacifi c Ma- rine Energy Center, agrees. “Fifty percent is low. Like, that’s not a high bar so Or- egon should nail that,” said Robertson. “When I start to have misgivings is when people say 100% because getting up to 80 or 90 is ac- tually not incredibly diffi cult — it’s that last 10% that is incredibly diffi cult.” According to Robertson, getting beyond 80% to 90% renewable energy would be expensive to implement, of- fers diminishing returns and puts the system’s resiliency at risk. it, or the sun,” said Steve Corson, a spokesman for PGE. “They are variable. Their output may come and go during any given day and we need other resources that we can turn on and off to ensure reliable supply for customers.” The diminishing returns and reliability factor of renewables force utilities to rely on energy sources that can be stockpiled in case of emergencies and called upon when needed. These “dis- patchable resources,” such as coal or natural gas, can be used to stabilize the electric- ity system if the renewable energy system fails to gener- ate enough power, according to Corson. Weather patterns play a In the future, however, role reliance on dispatchable re- Switching entirely to sources could decline with a renewable energy would put diversifi ed electrical grid and the state’s electrical grid at new technologies that meet risk of not meeting Oregon’s consumer demand every electrical demands, accord- second of every day. These ing to industry experts. new capabilities add another “You cannot turn the wind safety net to meeting the on and off when you need needs of Oregonians. “This gives us an opportunity and a window — if we can keep this at the level it is — we have an opportunity to open up on the 12th.” — Mark Witty, superintendent, Baker School District, talking about the potential to have students from preschool through sixth-grade return to classrooms as soon as Oct. 12 to return to in-person classes. Those standards for Baker County include having fewer than 30 new COVID-19 cases over a 3-week period, and with less than half the cases, or fi ve or fewer, reported dur- ing the last of the three weeks. For the past two full weeks — Sept. 6-12 and Sept. 13-19 — Baker County had three new cases, accord- ing to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). For the week starting Sept. 20, the county has had three new cases — one each on Tuesday, Sept. 22, Wednesday, Sept. 23 and Friday, Sept. 25. In addition to meeting the threshold for the number of new cases in the previous 3-week period, the county health department also must verify that there has been no community spread in the school enrollment area during the previous three weeks. Schools also must comply with Sections 1-3 of the “Ready Schools/ Safe Learners” guidance issued by the Oregon Department of Educa- tion, Witty said. Those include public health protocols, building and school operation requirements and a planned response to a possible outbreak. Witty said the District will be awaiting new case reports expected by Sept. 28 for the current week. That would leave a report on Oct. 5, and the health department determi- nation on an absence of community spread, to determine if schools could reopen Oct. 12. He pointed out that the situation could change from one day to the next. “Tomorrow could change this discussion — literally,” Witty said. “This gives us an opportunity and a window — if we can keep this at the level it is — we have an opportunity to open up on the 12th.” Witty said that if younger stu- dents return to schools, the district’s maintenance staff would have to maintain its diligent sanitation processes, face coverings would be New technologies Along with the increas- ing amount of renewable energy, utilities are develop- ing technologies to expand the electrical grid to keep the lights on when consumer demand exceeds the ability of generation. These “demand response programs” rely on greater interaction with consumers to build a more intricate electri- cal system. For example, many appli- ances, such as water heaters, can act as a sort of battery. “Down in my basement I have a 50-gallon tank of hot water,” said Corson. “That is actually a kind of battery because most of the time during the day I don’t need 50 gallons of hot water, but my hot water heater is down there keeping that 50 gal- lons topped off all the time anyway.” Demand response pro- grams would put a control on water heaters and if demand for power outstrips the gen- erating capacity or if power gets exceptionally expensive, utilities could send a signal out to hundreds of thousands of water heaters through- out their service territory that switch them off for fi ve minutes. “For any one water heater, that’s not going to produce a noticeable difference for the people in that home or busi- ness,” Corson said. “They’re still going to have hot water, that 50-gallon tank is still full. But, add up the electric- ity required for that 100,000 water heaters over fi ve minutes and it’s a signifi cant chunk of electricity.” This system could enable utilities to dramatically re- duce carbon emissions. PGE is aiming to reduce emissions by more than 80% by 2050, said Corson. “It’s a big change,” he said. In Oregon, where the natural environment is fl ush with renewable energy pos- sibilities, demand response programs can be used to bol- ster the system. But they can also be used in other states with less natural renewable energy resources or policies. “It’s good business for the utility. It helps them from having to go out on the stock market and buy electric- ity when it’s really really expensive or having to build more resources than they need,” Smith said. “It just makes sense to do from a cost perspective.” worn by all students and staff, and physical distancing would be en- forced. The ability to conduct contact tracing also must be maintained, he said. Julie Huntington, a school board member, emphasized the impor- tance of the District’s efforts to maintain safety as it considers a limited reopening. “By us doing this, we are the most likely people who could create a community spread,” she said. “We have got to take this seriously, what it means for those kids to be in the classroom.” Witty praised school employees for their efforts during the opening three weeks of school, with online classes for all grades starting Sept. 8. “I can’t overemphasize how much energy and work we’ve gone through to get to this point,” he said. “And the work they’ve done to make this the best that it can be.” Thursday’s regular Board meet- ing drew up to 66 participants on the Zoom computer app, said Debra Anderson, Board secretary. Many of those attending were staff members, but more families tuned in than in previous meetings. They appeared to be interested in the Summer Academy report as well as the dis- “It’s not a question of whether or not we can do it at this point, it’s just which is the best way that’s going to be most affordable,” said Smith. Buying out-of-state nonrenewables Some regions of Oregon still rely heavily on coal power. According to 2018 numbers, the most recent numbers available, Oregon’s resource mix, which consists of in-state and out-of-state generation, is made up of just under 25% coal. Much of this comes from Colstrip — a coal plant located in Montana — that is partly owned by PGE and Pacifi Corp. “In the case of Bend, an area where people have a fairly high amount of environmental proclivi- ties, over half their energy still comes from coal,” said Brian Skeahan, director of the Community Renewable Energy Association. However, Oregon’s 2016 plan that ended coal genera- tion in the state also prohib- its purchasing coal-produced electricity from out of state sources after 2035. PGE and Pacifi Corp will not be able to charge Oregonians for power produced by Colstrip after 2035. But, they can still buy other nonrenewable energy, such as natural gas, from other states. One possible move the utilities can make is to fi ll the gap by buying energy from other states that have less restrictive energy generation regulations in place. This purchased power could come from nonrenewable energy sources, could require long- term contracts and be more expensive as utilities would be buying energy off the open market. But, in the most recent plan submitted to the Public Utilities Commission, PGE denied that it would replace nonrenewable energy with more nonrenewables from out of state, instead com- mitting to seek nonemitting resources. According to Robertson, California is generating so much solar that it’s starting to cost them money. And, since the western half of North America functions un- der one electricity grid, extra power that is generated needs to be used. This benefi ts Or- egon utilities as they can buy very cheap electricity from California in the summer. cussion of the COVID-19 metrics, Anderson said. A turnout of parents was expect- ed to lobby for a return to in-person classes, but just one person, Koby Myer, purposely signed up for the public comment portion of the regu- lar meeting. After Myer asked for an update on the District’s plan for reopen- ing schools, particularly for el- ementary students, Board Chair Chris Hawkins informed Myer that the public comment segment of the meeting is not designed as a question-and-answer session. Hawkins noted that the topic was not part of the meeting agenda, but would be addressed by Witty during his monthly report to the Board. At that point, Myer did not offer further comment. Witty said Friday that the Zoom meeting system seemed to cause some confusion regarding public comment. He said he knows Koby Myer personally and would have liked to have heard from him. “We always want to give the op- portunity for people to speak,” Witty said. To make the opportunity more widely available to the community, Witty said he hopes to offer a town hall type of meeting over Zoom soon.
