PGE Issues RFP for New Renewable Resources

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Portland General Electric Company (NYSE:POR) today issued a request for proposals seeking power generating resources to help PGE comply with Oregon’s renewable energy standard.

“This RFP will be an important step in meeting the state’s renewable power goals, and together with our separate RFP for baseload and capacity resources will help solidify our ability to continue providing reliable, affordable power to our customers for years to come.”

“A growing percentage of the electricity we deliver to our customers comes from renewable resources,” said Jim Lobdell, PGE’s vice president for power operations and resource strategy. “This RFP will be an important step in meeting the state’s renewable power goals, and together with our separate RFP for baseload and capacity resources will help solidify our ability to continue providing reliable, affordable power to our customers for years to come.”

The RFP seeks approximately 100 average megawatts of renewable power – enough to serve more than 83,000 typical PGE residential customers. Renewable generation resources must meet a minimum size of at least 10 megawatts, and can represent a variety of technologies including wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, solar, and hydroelectric power. PGE may acquire a single resource or a mix of resources to achieve the total desired renewable energy target, and anticipates the resources acquired will be brought into the company’s portfolio in the 2013-2017 timeframe.

The utility circulated a draft of the RFP to stakeholders and potential bidders and held workshops before submitting the draft to the Oregon Public Utility Commission on July 25. Following OPUC staff and stakeholder comments, PGE submitted a revised draft on Sept. 10. The commission approved PGE’s renewable resource RFP at a public meeting on Sept. 25.

This RFP will be conducted pursuant to guidelines established by the OPUC and is a significant step in implementing PGE’s current integrated resource plan.

PGE issued a separate RFP earlier this year, seeking baseload energy resources as well as flexible and seasonal capacity resources. The company is currently evaluating the bids received, and expects to develop a short list of bids for negotiation by the end of November.

Accion Group, Inc., an independent evaluator hired by the OPUC, is helping conduct the RFPs and reviewing bids to assure an open and impartial process. The independent evaluator will also provide an assessment of the bid scoring and short list selection. The independent evaluator will then issue a closing report with a detailed assessment of the process and its results.

PGE intends to submit a benchmark proposal in the renewable RFP process, which will be due October 30. Bids from outside parties are due Nov. 13. The independent evaluator will not release the bids to PGE until scoring of the benchmark proposal has been completed and sealed.

Further information on the RFPs, the workshops, and the competitive bidding process is available online at PortlandGeneralRFP.accionpower.com.

About Portland General Electric Company

Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a vertically-integrated electric utility that serves more than 828,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon. Visit our Web site at www.PortlandGeneral.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are not guarantees of future events. Rather, they are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs and assumptions and are subject to uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual events or results may differ materially from the statements made. Forward-looking statements made in this press release include statements regarding the company’s energy strategy for future periods, the implementation and outcome of requests for proposals, and the acquisition of additional resources to meet retail customer demand and the requirements of Oregon’s Renewable Energy Standard. These forward-looking statements are based upon our assumptions about and assessment of the future, which may or may not prove true, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risk factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company’s reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Source: Portland General Electric Company