Where does the renewable energy purchased come from?

Where does Blue Sky renewable energy come from?

Renewable energy for Oregon customers comes from a variety of different sources and locations throughout the Northwest:

Wind energy
So far, Pacific Power has made purchases from the following facilities on behalf of Blue Sky customers:
- Oregon
  - Condon Wind Project (Gilliam County, Ore., 49.8 megawatts) The Condon Wind Project has been in operation since the end of 2001. The 83 turbines produce enough energy to meet the needs of 10,513 homes. Farming and grazing continue around the bases of the 274-foot high turbines.
  - Klondike Wind Project (Sherman County, Ore., 99 megawatts (includes phases 1 and 2)) Klondike Wind Project has proven to be such a successful wind farm that it has been home to three different expansions. The first phase of the project came on line in 2001 and consists of sixteen wind turbines that can generate up to 24 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A second phase of an additional 50 turbines, was completed in 2005. The third phase will consist of an additional 122 turbines. Klondike was also the subject of a study on the local economic impacts of wind farms. Read a fact sheet about the results of the study at Stateline Energy Center (Umatilla County, Ore. and Walla Walla County, Wash., 300 megawatts) – Stateline Energy Center, so named because it straddles the Oregon and Washington border, is one of the largest producers of wind energy in the world. Large enough to provide power to more than 72,000 homes, Stateline provided 150 jobs during its construction and employs 15 permanent full-time workers in its operation.
  - Newburg Wind (Newburg, Ore.) Two small-scale wind turbines sited on a 22-acre homestead in Newberg, Ore., are helping offset 52,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

Washington
- Nine Canyon (Walla Walla County, Wash., 63.7 megawatts) Blue Sky customers are buying 40,000-megawatt hours of wind power from Washington’s Nine Canyon Wind Project. Located near the Stateline Wind facility on a dry land wheat farm, Nine Canyon is one the largest public power-owned wind projects in the nation. It consists of 49 turbines, each capable of producing 1.3 megawatts of electricity. Blue Sky customers are buying enough clean energy to power 3,300 Pacific Power homes a year. The project even has a letter of support from the lower Columbia Basin Chapter of the Audubon Society, because great lengths were taken to minimize the facility’s impact on birds.
- Wild Horse Wind Farm (Kittitas County, Wash., 228.6 megawatts) The Wild Horse Wind Farm provides affordable, pollution-free electricity to the Northwest. The project has brought new jobs and approximately $1M annually in local property tax revenues to Kittitas County. The project consists of approximately 127 wind turbines over 8,600 acres of open range; while the wind farm itself takes up only about 165 acres.
- Big Horn (Klickitat County, Wash., 199.5 megawatts) Located in Klickitat County, across the Columbia River and approximately 25 miles from Klondike Wind, the Big Horn project has 133 1.5 MW GE turbines. The project supports the local economy through royalty payments to about five landowners and property tax payments to Klickitat County. More than 100 jobs were created during the peak of construction and the facility employs 6 to 8 full time employees during operation. While the entire project spans approximately 15,000 acres, the actual footprint of the turbines and associated facilities uses less than one percent (about 70 acres) of the total acreage. Landowners will continue using the remainder of the land for wheat farming and grazing.
- Hopkins Ridge (Columbia County, Wash., 149.9 megawatts)Located 15 miles northeast of Dayton, Wash., these 83 Vestas v-80 1.8 MW Turbines can create an average annual output of about 456,000 megawatt hours, sufficient to meet the power needs of 40,000 households.

Wyoming
- Foote Creek IV Wind Energy Project (Arlington, Wyo., 16.8 megawatts) – Foote Creek IV is located between Laramie and Rawlins in Southwestern Wyoming – one of the windiest places in America with average wind speeds of 25 mph. The facility generates enough clean energy to power 4,292 average homes each year.
- Wyoming Wind Energy Center (Evanston, Wyo., 144 megawatts) – As the largest wind energy facility in Wyoming, Pleasant Valley’s 80 turbines can generate enough energy to power about 43,000 homes. The farm’s 1.8 mw wind turbines, which are among the world’s largest, have a rotor diameter of 262 feet and a tower height of 220 feet. The facility is located on ranch land currently used for cattle grazing.
Montana
- Judith Gap Wind (Harlowtown, Mont., 135 megawatts) – The Judith Gap Wind project has been in operation since December 2005. The project includes 90 turbines, which when they are all spinning to capacity will generate 135 megawatts and power 350 to 400 homes per turbine. Each turbine is over 250 feet tall and has three 126-feet long blades. The turbines reach energy producing speed at 7.8 mph. Optimal speed is 33.5 mph.

As the demand grows we will purchase more wind energy from other facilities in the West. Pacific Power renewable purchases are reviewed and endorsed by local leading environmental organizations.

Solar
- The Montessori School of Beaverton – Beaverton, Ore.
  Thanks to Blue Sky customers and a unique partnership with Energy Trust of Oregon, the Montessori School of Beaverton is one of Oregon's emerging solar energy producers. Capacity: 6 kw
- Pepsi Cola Bottling – Klamath Falls, Ore.
  Energy Trust of Oregon helped bring on line a solar facility located at the Pepsi of Klamath Falls bottling facility. Blue Sky customers purchases support this facility. At 162 kw, this facility is one of the largest solar facilities in the Northwest.
- Selma Community Center– Selma, Ore.
  Pacific Power worked closely with Energy Trust of Oregon to bring on line this 8 kw solar project located on the former Selma Elementary School, which now serves as a parking shade at the Selma Community Center.
  Capacity: 8 kw
- Eastern Oregon Renewables– Grant County, Ore. This project was built as part of Solwest 2000 and is hosted by the Grant County Fairgrounds. Capacity 1.12 kw
- Engelmann Becker Corporation– Eugene, Ore. Engelmann Becker Corporation of Eugene installed a 14.8 KW photovoltaic system in November of 2005. The system has 72 modules which face south and are on racks tilted at 20 degrees from the existing flat roof.
- Jackson County Solar Pavilion– Jackson County, Ore. Jackson County, Ore. This project is the result of the combined efforts of nine Southern Oregon businesses working with Pacific Power to develop local renewable resources. The facility features an education wall open to the public.
- Guaranty Solar– Junction City, Ore. In May 2006 Guaranty RV installed the largest PV system in Lane County at 93668 Hwy 99S Junction City, Oregon. Guaranty RV and Camping World share a building on this site. Check out their live record of generation Capacity 61 kw.
- Sokol Blosser—Dayton, Ore. This 144 panel array came online at Sokol Blosser Winery in the Dundee Hills of Oregon in 2007. Sokol Blosser is dedicated to achieving sustainability and to using environmentally friendly practices.
- Sweet Life Bakery and Patisserie—Eugene, Ore. Both the Bakery and Retail store are generating solar energy with roof-top solar panel systems. These solar panels were installed in 2006. In addition, Sweet Life Bakery and Patisserie installed two solar water heating systems (the solar water heaters are unrelated to the Blue Sky program).
- West Wind Forest Products—Eugene, Ore. In June of 2006 West Wind Forest Products installed a 64.8 KW Solar Electric System on the roof of their Eugene warehouse facility. This is currently the largest Photovoltaic installation in the city of Eugene.
Biomass
- HW Hill Landfill Gas Power Plant– Roosevelt, Wash.
  Located adjacent to Roosevelt Landfill's 20 million tons of trash, this project harvests combustible gases from decomposing garbage. The gas is pumped downhill to feed five modified commercial diesel generators, creating enough energy to power nearly 10,000 homes. Capacity: 10.5 mw
- Gorge Energy Division - Bingen, Wash. SDS Lumber, a family owned company, uses their mill to maximize the amount of lumber and veneer recovered from a single log, however leftover residues inevitably exist. After selling sawdust and wood chips to paper companies, they use bark and other wood waste - biomass - to fuel our steam plant, creating cleaner, renewable energy.
- Stimson Lumber—Plummer, Ida. Stimson Lumber operates a thermal wood waste generating plant at its Plummer, Idaho facility. Stimon Lumber manages 500,000 acres of company-owned timberland, consistent with the Sustainable Forestry Standards of the American Forest Products and Paper Association “AFPA”. In addition, Stimson Lumber Company was honored with Energy Trust's Energy Leadership Award in 2007 for its energy efficiency iniatiaves.

We guarantee that we will deliver to the regional power system an amount of renewable energy equal to your renewable power purchase. We cannot deliver energy from a particular facility directly to a customer's home because that's not the way the power system works. The additional cost for Blue Sky goes directly to purchase renewable energy and to run the program; we aren't allowed to profit from offering customers this choice. Blue Sky is overseen by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) and is closely monitored by various consumer groups.