Blue Sky, other green energy programs get high participation rates in Oregon

Dinner was on the stove, the table needed setting, one of my children was sing-songing, "Water, water, water, please!" -- and then the doorbell rang.

Through the window, I saw two men. Magazine subscriptions? Evangelists? Bulk frozen steaks?

"I'm sorry, I don't want any," I started to say as their spiel began: "We're here on behalf of Pacific Power's Blue Sky program, and would you like to join?"

I took in a jumble of words: "offset emissions from your electricity use," "just 10 percent of your monthly bill," "a few dollars a month," "solar, wind and biomass."

I had read about the program but wasn't sure how it worked. The men at the front door couldn't tell me exactly how much I would pay each month. I care about green, I thought, slightly exasperated, but I don't have time for this ...

Then, I did something I don't normally do: I signed up.

The guys looked earnest, I know renewable energy is good even if I don't fully understand it, and my kid was thirsty.

But what exactly did I just agree to? I wondered as I shut the door. Why does the power company need extra help developing renewables? Isn't it making enough to do that on its own?

A little research yielded answers: Fifty-eight percent of Pacific Power's energy comes from burning coal, 20 percent from natural gas, 10 percent from hydroelectric, 7 percent from market purchases and 5 percent from renewables.

The state requires that by 2025 utilities meet one-quarter of retail demand with renewable resources to cut back greenhouse gas emissions. Pacific Power, Portland General Electric and the other utilities in the state are forging ahead.

But the money I pay through Blue Sky, or the money a PGE customer pays through Green Source, goes toward renewable energy above and beyond that state-mandated goal. So, for instance, Blue Sky dollars installed a 94,000-square-foot solar array at the Port of Portland and put solar panels on three Portland public schools: Columbia Site of the Pioneer Special School Programs, Roseway Heights and Scott. The money also buys renewable energy credits from, say, a wind farm in the Columbia River Gorge that's not connected with Pacific Power. Blue Sky invests in wave energy research at Oregon State University in hopes that it develops into a formidable energy source in 20 years.

I read about a similar program in Florida shut down for having three-quarters of its money go to administrative costs and marketing. But just 22 percent of Blue Sky's block program goes to administration and marketing. Forty-eight percent goes to renewable energy credits, 30 percent goes to projects like the one at the Port of Portland. The state's public utility commission and regional advisory groups oversee it, and it's audited annually.

One of the biggest misunderstandings is that the renewable energy can be targeted to directly power a certain home. It's not possible, says Jeff Hammarlund, an adjunct professor who leads the energy policy program in the Executive Leadership Institute at Portland State University. People have to content themselves with the big picture. The programs "support the expansion of renewable energy development in the Northwest, which provides environmental and economic benefits to the region," he says.

Lots of Oregonians recognize that. PGE ranks second nationwide in its customer participation rate with 10.2 percent (nearly 73,000 customers), while Blue Sky ranks seventh with 6.5 percent (39,000 customers), according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In 2009, Oregon Blue Sky customers voluntarily provided approximately $3.4 million to support renewable energy, supporting about 372,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy generation in the West while also providing funds to support community-based solar projects.

More: http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2010/05/blue_sky.html