Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland General Electric is actively looking for businesses to help the utility keep up with energy demand. Rob Manning reports the utiilty's draft energy plan leans heavily on customers.

PGE’s proposes adding 60 megawatts worth of power without building a new power plant.

For a residence, it might mean briefly turning off a hot water heater during times of peak demand.

The plan would also double the utility’s reliance on reserve power – from 50 megawatts to 120.

That’s energy that industries and other customers have available in the form of backup generators.

Those customers contract with PGE to have the generators improved, and then allow PGE to turn them on, again, under certain conditions.

Joe Barra is PGE’s director of customer energy resources.

Joe Barra: “There’s a shift underway and it’s an industry-wide shift. I would say Portland General is on the leading edge of that shift.”    

If approved, the voluntary customer-side contributions in PGE’s draft plan would provide 180 megawatts – the equivalent of a medium-sized natural gas plant.