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Podcast: Cascade CounterPoint
Episode: QP: Oregon's 2040 Electric Utility Mandates Rely on Future Technology--or Buying Electricity from Other States
Description: Full-text: Two years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2021, which requires Oregon’s investor-owned electric utilities to phase out fossil fuels by 2040, producing all electricity from renewables—mostly wind and solar.
But renewables have a problem: Wind and solar are notoriously unreliable. They must always depend on on-demand “dispatchable” resources, which in Oregon means natural gas and hydro. New hydro is nearly impossible to build, and with other dispatchables outlawed, Oregon could find itself without electricity when it’s really needed.
PacifiCorp, one of Oregon’s two investor-owned electric utilities, admits that it likely will be unab...