Generating the clean energy future of the Northwest

Rachel Shimshak

Rachel Shimshak is Executive Director at Renewable Northwest Project,a regional nonprofit advocacy organization promoting responsible development of renewable energy resources in the Pacific Northwest. For more information, please visit www.rnp.org. This is the first installment of an on-going series examining the expansion of renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest. The series will be written by various people associated with RNP.

The Northwest is blessed with an abundance of potential clean energy resources. Decades of ideas and discussions among energy stakeholders have given way to a significant upsurge of investments in renewable energy policies and projects throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.  This growth has paved a path toward a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. But the work has only begun. Together, we can learn from our experiences and plan, act and realize a vision for a new energy economy.

The Northwest region is renowned for its commitment to clean energy. Over the past 12 years, it has fostered more than 4,100 megawatts of new renewable energy projects--including wind, solar and geothermal--generating enough power for approximately 1,025,000 households.  Clean energy resources are helping to diversify our electricity portfolio, stabilize rates over the long-term, reduce environmental risks and create local economic vitality.

The rich spectrum of economic benefits includes Oregon becoming the largest host of solar industry headquarters and manufacturing sites in the United States. This has led Oregon to create the most green jobs per capita in the nation, according to a Pew Center study. Meanwhile, farmers in Washington are successfully using their land to harvest wind in addition to their seasonal crops, capitalizing on new ways to prosper while upholding traditional means of working their land. Furthermore, the environmental impact of our commitment to energy efficiency and renewable resources is profound; by reducing carbon pollution on a large scale, we are taking steps to address the reality of climate change as it threatens innumerable natural systems, species and our planet.

While many western states, businesses and communities are reaping the benefits of renewable energy investments, there are still key issues to address if we are to realize our full clean energy potential. In the Northwest, the new generation of renewable energy resources constitutes only five percent of our energy mix, despite the abundance of potential.   In addition to having good resources, responsible development guidelines and practices, and a market with willing buyers, we need the infrastructure to get the renewable energy from where it is generated to where it is consumed. That means additional, targeted new transmission.

On July 14, national and regional leaders met in Portland for an expert forum that addressed the role of energy transmission in proliferating renewable resources. Hosted by the Energy Future Coalition in collaboration with Renewable Northwest Project, Climate Solutions and the Northwest Energy Coalition, participants included representatives from diverse sectors including government, business, labor, non-profit and environmental groups. The daylong event featured a packed house, indicating that the time is ripe for energy stakeholders to focus on the issue of transmission. The forum was an example of how diverse groups can come together to address concrete solutions that will help us realize a clean energy future.

We have come a long way but have far to go to bring new renewable resources to scale. We must work together to help shape new state and federal policies that will enable us to tap our country’s renewable energy resources and meet our climate objectives. We must work intelligently to use our existing transmission system more efficiently, and to build transmission for renewable energy in a manner that minimizes impacts on sensitive ecological resources.  In combination with robust energy efficiency investments, we can create clean generation for the next generation.