Portland General Electric and Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Avangrid, announced an agreement to purchase power from a new 162-megawatt solar generation facility — the largest in Oregon — to be developed and built in eastern Oregon. The new facility will supply power and the accompanying renewable energy credits to PGE’s Green Future Impact customers, helping them source up to 100% of their energy from a local renewable energy resource that they’ve helped make possible.

“We’re proud to meet growing customer demand for clean energy,” said Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric. “These partnerships are critical for creating jobs, thereby creating a green economy and accelerating clean energy delivery to customers.”

Green Future Impact is a voluntary renewable energy program that PGE introduced to give large businesses and municipalities more ways to meet their ambitious sustainability goals and strengthen the local clean energy industry. Avangrid Renewables will develop and own the project, which Green Future Impact customers will participate in naming. PGE will purchase the facility’s entire output for 15 years, increasing the amount of clean energy in PGE’s system and creating a tangible connection between participating customers and their energy resource.

The new solar facility will be Avangrid Renewables’ 11th renewable energy facility in Oregon and will be built on 1,200 privately owned acres in Gilliam County. Construction is expected to begin in late 2020 or early 2021. At its peak, construction will generate approximately 300 jobs in partnership with local unions. When the facility begins operating in late 2021, it will produce enough power to serve the equivalent of about 40,000 homes and will generate an estimated $1.3 million of taxes and property owner lease payments each year, benefitting the local economy for years to come.

“We value the opportunity to partner with PGE to build the largest solar facility in Oregon,” said Alejandro de Hoz, Avangrid Renewables president and CEO. “Given our company’s long history in the Pacific Northwest, we are proud to play a key role in delivering more renewable electricity to forward-thinking commercial energy customers.”

Approved by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission in 2019, Green Future Impact is available to cities and other large businesses who meet threshold requirements for energy use. By committing to long-term participation, the program ensures that customer prices reflect the actual cost of producing and delivering the energy. The program is structured to be self-supporting and avoid shifting costs to non-participating customers.

Participating Green Future Impact customers include Adobe, Comcast, Daimler Trucks North America, Digital Realty, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland Community College, Portland State University and the cities of Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Portland, Salem, West Linn and Wilsonville, along with Multnomah and Washington counties.

News item from Portland General Electric Company