THE GOVERNOR’S SUMMIT ON OREGON’S ENERGY FUTURE

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NorthCoastOregon August 25, 2008

(Salem) – Governor Ted Kulongoski has charted a course to a more secure, clean energy future for Oregon, but today we face soaring energy prices that are hurting our families and our businesses. To discuss this challenge, Governor Kulongoski will convene a summit on Oregon’s energy future this Wednesday, August 27.

The purpose of the summit is to seek a variety of perspectives on one key question: How do we meet the growing energy demands of today, at an affordable cost for families and businesses, as we transition to a clean, energy independent Oregon?

The summit will provide an opportunity to hear from the business community, energy industry, environmental community, consumer advocates, labor and economists.

According to the news release from the governor’s office, Governor Kulongoski wants to expand the dialogue with the citizens of Oregon about creating an energy future that continues to move the state toward clean, renewable energy while also addressing the immediate issues of price stability and certainty for Oregon families and businesses.

Whether it is demand from our growing economy or growing population, Oregon’s energy needs are expected to increase. Oregon has charted a course to meet future demand with renewable energy, aggressive conservation strategies and increased efficiency. However it will take time to implement fully Oregon’s green, more efficient energy plan and invest in the energy infrastructure needed to incorporate renewable energy into the grid. The challenge before Oregon and the nation is: how do we provide energy stability and certainty, at an affordable cost for families and businesses, as we transition to a clean and energy independent economy?

The Governor is seeking the perspectives of the business community, energy suppliers, consumer advocates, the environmental community, labor and economists on Oregon’s short-term energy needs and options for meeting those needs at an affordable cost and in a way that complements the state’s transition to renewable energy. This summit is informational and fact-finding. It is intended to inform and engage the public and policy-makers about the choices facing the state as we chart a short-term energy strategy that also works to advance our long-term plan for an energy independent Oregon.

Participating will be business leaders, labor leaders, environmental leaders, energy providers, consumer advocates, legislators, representatives from the Congressional Delegation.

Perspective of Suppliers will be represented by Steve Wright, with the Bonneville Power Administration; Gregg Kantor with NW Natural Gas; Peggy Fowler, with Portland General Electric; Pat Reiten, with PacifiCorp; and Paul Elias, with McMinnville Water & Light. This panel will provide an overview of current energy supply, including progress on investments in renewable energy sources, meeting the RPS benchmarks, and provide an overview of the current and short-term demand as well as their perspective on the challenges and options available to meet that demand while continuing to invest in renewable energy.

Perspective of Business will be represented by Chandra Brown, with Oregon Ironworks; Gregg Patterson, with PV Powered; Eric Schooler, with The Collins Companies; and John Aguirre, with Oregon Association of Nurseries. This panel will provide an overview of business energy needs, from both large and small industry perspectives, including their energy conservation and efficiency efforts, increased use of renewable energy and their future energy outlook both in terms of costs and demands.

Perspective of Individual Consumers and Labor will be represented by Lee Beyer, with the Public Utility Commission; Jeff Bissonette, with the Citizens’ Utility Board; Jim Abrahamson, with the Community Action Partnership of Oregon; and Tom Chamberlain, with the AFL-CIO. This panel will provide an overview of individual consumers’ energy use, including population growth, regional needs and trends, energy conservation and efficiency efforts, and the challenge that families and individuals face to cover increasing energy costs while also meeting their families other basic needs.

Perspective of the Environment will be represented by Jeremiah Baumann, with Environment Oregon; Andrea Durbin, with the Oregon Environmental Council; and Rachel Shimshak, with the Renewable Northwest Project. This panel will provide an overview of the environmental challenges facing Oregon and our nation as it relates to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. The panel will also provide an overview of the success of recent state policies to address climate change and policy priorities in this area to keep Oregon on track to meet its long-term vision of energy security and independence.

Options for Meeting Current Energy Needs will then be discussed by Mark Dodson, with NW Natural Gas; Angus Duncan, with the Oregon Global Warming Commission; and Steve Grover, with ECONorthwest. This panel will outline available energy sources for Oregon to meet current and short-term energy needs during the transition to a clean, secure and stable energy independent economy.

3 Comments

On Aug 26, 5:34 AM, Anonymous wrote:

When and where is the conference for those who’d like to attend?

On Aug 27, 5:26 PM, Mark Paul wrote:

This must have been a great session. Would have liked to have been there. I hope that the Governor’s office is still open to a variety of perspectives to address this multi-faceted challenge.

One is: I have built a team and company that is working to address this challenge: NXergy, Inc. is a Renewable Energy Technology Accelerator - to bring affordable, renewable clean energy to market… by working with those in the energy industry (instead of against them).

NXergy is a scaled-down version of the approach outlined in my new book: “The 21st Century Energy Initiative” (An excerpt, “The Presidential Speech I’d Like to Hear”, can be found at http://www.energy2025.com.)

On Aug 28, 12:15 AM, pitty us our fools wrote:

We’d invite you here Mark Paul, but you wouldn’t be able to build anything. The anti-growth people are shutting down and out all technology in their short-sighted viewpoint of the future. Their refusal to see that Oregon is nowhere near the point of being able to sustain renewable energy at this point and that a bridge technology is NEEDED. In the meantime, this group of anti-growth people are determined to close down Clatsop County. If you were to attempt to build something here you would not be able to run any cables from it to carry the energy anywhere! Clatsop County is surrounded by and crisscrossed by open spaces, parks and recreation lands. No feasible way in, out or around, unless maybe you are a rabbit, ferret or most favorably a snake. If you are a business paying for the cable or pipeline it simply won’t be worth your time or effort and you will chose to bypass us as will all other renewable energy and technology.

Tip of the Day

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." ~ George Bernard Shaw "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." ~Thomas Jefferson (Thanks, Auntie)

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