Energy Sources

Our wind farms in the Northwest provide more than 1,000 megawatts (one gigawatt) of clean, sustainable energy — enough power to serve the equivalent of 340,000 homes.

In addition to long-term contracts with third-party wind energy providers, we own and operate three wind energy facilities:

Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility in Morrow County, Oregon is North America’s first major renewable energy facility to combine wind, solar and battery storage in one location.

Tucannon Wind Farm

This plant, which is located near Dayton, Washington, uses a total installed capacity of 267 MW (megawatts) to produce an average of about 101 MW — enough to power the homes of about 84,000 residential customers.

Biglow Canyon Wind Farm

Biglow Canyon Wind Farm near Wasco, Oregon has a total installed capacity of 450 MW to produce an average of around 150 MW — enough to power the homes of about 125,000 average residential customers. These projects help us meet our clean energy goals while still supplying reliable power to our customers.

Learn more about the power of wind.

The nation’s first solar highway? Yep, that was us, with help from the Oregon Department of Transportation. The Oregon Solar Highway Demonstration Project at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin generates solar power to offset the power used by highway lights, reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. This is just one example of the way we’re partnering with schools, government agencies and corporations to grow solar energy in Oregon.

Our solar power comes from solar projects that we build, third-party suppliers, and even business and residential customers who create more solar installations that feed the grid. Learn how you can offset your electric use with solar power that you generate at home though our Net Metering program.

Portland General has been generating electricity with hydroelectric facilities since 1889. We own five hydroelectric plants on the Clackamas and Willamette Rivers, and co-own two more on the Deschutes. All have been upgraded with the latest technology to protect migratory fish. Learn more about our efforts to protect fish and wildlife.

Our hydro facilities also provide opportunities to enjoy nature in the form of parks, campground and recreation areas that we own and maintain.

Our natural gas-fired power plants are an important part of our energy mix because they provide a steady, efficient and reliable source of energy that we can use during periods of high demand or when renewable energy sources like solar and wind aren’t available.

We own and operate several highly efficient natural gas-powered plants. The newest are Port Westward Unit 2 (adjacent to PGE’s Port Westward and Beaver plants in Clatskanie, Oregon) and the 440-megawatt Carty Generating Station, near Boardman, Oregon.

We closed our last Oregon-based coal-fired power plant in October of 2020, 20 years ahead of schedule, as part of an agreement with stakeholders, customer groups and regulators to significantly reduce air emissions from power production in Oregon.

While we still generate a small amount of power at Colstrip, a coal-fired power plant that we share ownership of near Billings, Montana, we are planning to eliminate it from our resource mix no later than 2035. The Colstrip Power Plant started dismantling generating equipment in July of 2020.