Oregon Receives Record-Breaking Number of Comments in Opposition to PGE’s Plan for Fracked Gas-Powered Electricity Generation
The first comment period for the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) review of the Carty Generating Station wrapped on Friday, Feb. 3, 2016, with EFSC receiving an emphatic earful - over 7,000 comments - in opposition to new methane gas power plants near Boardman. Oregonians broke the record for the most comments ever submitted to EFSC - all in opposition to plan by Portland General Electric (PGE) to add two new methane gas plants near the site of its soon-to-be-retired Boardman coal-fired power plant. By proposing 860 MW of new methane gas-fired power plants at Boardman, PGE plans to deepen the region’s dependence on dirty fossil fuels.
In addition to the bulk of comments, a broad coalition filed detailed comments on PGE's Carty Generating Station. Columbia Riverkeeper, the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, 350 PDX, the Oregon Environmental Council, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, the Climate Action Coalition, Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Green Energy Institute, Climate Solutions, the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, and Chief Carl Sampson of the Walla Walla explained why PGE dramatically understates the climate pollution and natural resource impacts of its proposal.
The commenters represent hundreds of thousands of members that live, work, and recreate in Oregon, including members directly affected by PGE’s proposal to expand the Carty Generating Station’s natural gas generating capacity.
The public’s overwhelming response to this early comment opportunity shows that PGE faces steep and increasing opposition to its push for a decades-long ratepayer commitment to fracked gas powered electricity. Riverkeeper and our allies will keep you up to speed on the next steps in this fight as we work to persuade Oregon DEQ, EFSC, and the Oregon Public Utilities Commission to look with skepticism on PGE’s plan for deepening the Northwest’s reliance on methane gas power plants.
Read our coalition's comments here:
