PacifiCorp wants more green megawatts

PacifiCorp wants to add 1,100 megawatts of power from new renewable generation sources, and it is looking to Wyoming and several other Western states to supply the "green power."

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Star-Tribune energy reporter

Among Wyoming, Utah and Idaho, PacifiCorp wants to acquire 200 megawatts in 2006, another 200 megawatts in 2008 and another 200 megawatts in 2010, according to a PacifiCorp press release.

"We expect a lot of that will be wind (power), simply because development in that technology has been quite remarkable," PacifiCorp spokesman Dave Eskelsen said in a phone interview Thursday.

The power could also come from geothermal, solar, biomass or even hydro sources, Eskelsen added. In Oregon, Washington and northern California, PacifiCorp is seeking 100 megawatts in 2005, 200 megawatts in 2007 and an additional 200 megawatts in 2009.

PacifiCorp, which provides power to more than 1.5 million customers in Wyoming and the West, put out a formal Request for Proposal early this month with a deadline of March 9, 2004. The company can contract to buy the power generation, or it could decide to acquire ownership of the generation facility.

Eskelsen said an independent consultant will review the proposals and mask the identities of the companies through the first selection phase. PacifiCorp hopes to begin contract negotiations and construction by the end of the year.

Utilities all over the U.S. have been placing more emphasis on renewable energy as a way to balance their energy supply portfolios. And the efforts have helped spawned a quickly growing renewable energy industry.

"We’re active in Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and California, and we’re certainly looking at other opportunities in the Northwest," said Steve Stengel, spokesman for FPL Energy, a Florida-based wind turbine and generation company.

FPL recently completed Wyoming’s largest wind farm to-date — an 80-wind turbine farm northeast of Evanston that can generate up to 144 megawatts.

Stengel said RFPs like PacifiCorp’s take care of the first step to establishing wind energy: To provide a buyer for the power. Next, wind generation companies have to find land to build a project, and then they must make sure it is located where the power can be plugged into existing transmission lines that have enough capacity to take the extra power.

Oh yeah, and the wind has to blow.

"These are large economic development projects," Stengel said. "It’s clean energy and a good opportunity of an additional revenue source for landowners."

Wyoming officials have been nurturing the idea of renewable energy for some time. During the past year, Wyoming lawmakers have considered measures to require utilities to carry a minimum amount of renewable energy — an idea supported by Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council also supports the idea and has recommended the state mandate a 10 percent standard by 2010 and a 20 percent standard by 2020.

Renewable energy, not including hydroelectric plants, currently makes up 109 megawatts of PacifiCorp’s total installed 8,100 megawatt capacity, according to Eskelsen. With hydroelectric, renewables make up 1,187 megawatts.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, Wyoming ranks seventh in the nation for commercial wind-powered electrical generation opportunity. So far, there’s 284 megawatts of commercial wind-powered generation capacity installed in Wyoming. Including independent household wind generation potential, the Cowboy State has enough wind to generate 85,000 megawatts, according to the AWEA.