Portland State further commits to renewable energy, joins PGE Green Future Impact program

Portland State University is one of several partners committed to renewable energy that will participate in Portland General Electric’s new Green Future Impact program. The program provides organizations with an opportunity to use renewable energy and strengthen the local clean energy industry.

“After evaluating several possible actions to increase renewable energy use on campus, we found PGE’s Green Future Impact to be the best-value opportunity,” said PSU’s Campus Sustainability Director Jenny McNamara. 

Participating in the program is critical to PSU’s Climate Action Plan goals to transform the energy sources powering campus.

PGE announced an agreement to purchase power from a new 162-megawatt solar generation facility in eastern Oregon this week. The facility — the largest in Oregon — will be built in partnership with Avangrid Renewables in Gilliam County. 

"We're proud to meet growing customer demand for clean energy," said Maria Pope, president and CEO of PGE. "These partnerships are critical for creating jobs, thereby creating a green economy and accelerating clean energy delivery to customers."

Construction on the new facility will begin in late 2020 or early 2021 and begin operations in late 2021. The facility will generate enough power to serve the equivalent of 40,000 homes.

“We are honored and excited to be among the pool of participants driving the construction of the largest solar facility in Oregon — a project that not only contributes to our climate action goals but also creates jobs and advances the local clean energy economy,” McNamara said.