Avangrid and Portland General Electric Collaborate with QTS and Meta to Build 120 MWac Solar Project in Oregon
December 02 2024 - 1:05PM
Business Wire
Developed by Avangrid and now under construction, the Tower
Solar project will deliver energy to Portland General Electric’s
Green Future Impact program, creating over 200 jobs and local
economic benefits to Morrow County
Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company
and member of the Iberdrola Group, and Portland General Electric
(PGE) (NYSE: POR), are announcing the signing of a Power Purchase
Agreement (PPA) for Tower Solar, a new 120 MWac (166 MWdc) solar
energy project now under construction in Morrow County, Oregon, in
collaboration with QTS and Meta. The facility will deliver clean,
renewable energy to Portland General Electric’s grid through Green
Future Impact (GFI), a voluntary program designed to help large
commercial, industrial, and municipal customers meet their
ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction goals through the
development of new clean energy facilities in our region.
Subscribers to PGE’s GFI program enroll in a bundled renewable
energy product and receive the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
associated with the energy generated from the new facility. PGE’s
subscription pricing is designed to avoid cost shifting to
non-participating customers.
Under PGE’s GFI program, QTS, a leading data center solutions
provider, is developing a data center campus to support Meta’s
operations in the region that will be supported by renewable energy
from Tower Solar, helping to meet Meta’s sustainability and 100%
renewable energy goals.
“We are pleased to work closely with some of our largest
customers to develop another utility-scale solar project in Oregon,
the home-base for Avangrid’s onshore renewable energy business,”
said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “Projects like this are important
to furthering the country’s energy independence, and represent our
continued investment in the region with new jobs and tax
revenue.”
“The Green Future Impact program allows PGE to partner with our
largest customers like QTS to meet their ambitious sustainability
goals through local clean energy,” said Brett Greene, PGE Senior
Director Clean Energy Origination and Structuring. “Through GFI,
our largest customers can fund the development of the renewable
resources they need, while supporting green jobs and revenue for
Oregon communities.”
“This innovative project highlights QTS's commitment to
procuring sustainable energy solutions that help alleviate data
center power generation needs and support our customers’ goals,”
said Tag Greason, QTS Chief Growth Officer. “We are pleased to
partner with Avangrid and PGE to bolster these sustainability
initiatives.”
Tower Solar will be located just west of Boardman and located on
about 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of
Morrow near the Boardman Airport. The project will utilize more
than 200,000 solar panels.
At the peak of construction, Avangrid expects Tower Solar to
create more than 200 jobs, the vast majority of which will be
sourced from the region. Tower Solar is expected to pay about $20
million in combined PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) and property
taxes which will support a variety of public services, including
education.
Avangrid is the leading supplier of renewable energy to PGE’s
Green Future Impact program, including from Pachwáywit Fields,
Oregon’s largest operating solar facility, and the Daybreak, and
Bakeoven solar farms which are currently under construction.
Together with Tower Solar, the current combined capacity of the
Green Future Impact program facilities will be 482 MWac
Tower Solar will become Avangrid’s sixth solar facility in
Oregon once construction is complete in 2026, and its 17th Oregon
power generation project overall. Avangrid currently operates 1.6
GW of wind and solar projects in the state.
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be
the leading sustainable energy company in the United States.
Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $47 billion in
assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary
lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks
business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas
utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and
New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and
operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities
across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000
people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST
100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens – in
2024 for the fourth consecutive year. In 2024, Avangrid ranked
first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the
U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the
World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive
year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group
of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information,
visit www.avangrid.com.
About Portland General Electric: Portland General
Electric (NYSE: POR) is an integrated energy company that
generates, transmits and distributes electricity to over 930,000
customers serving an area of 1.9 million Oregonians. For more than
130 years, Portland General Electric (PGE) has powered social
progress delivering safe, affordable, reliable and increasingly
clean electricity while working to transform energy systems to meet
evolving customer needs. PGE has the largest voluntary renewable
energy program in the country and was ranked the No. 1 utility in
the 2024 Forrester U.S. Customer Experience Index. PGE is committed
to reducing emissions from its retail power supply by 80% by 2030
and 100% by 2040. PGE is recognized by the Bloomberg
Gender-Equality Index for the company’s commitment to creating a
more equal, inclusive workplace. In 2023, PGE employees, retirees
and the PGE Foundation donated nearly $4.6 million and volunteered
over 23,000 volunteer hours to more than 400 nonprofit
organizations. For more information: portlandgeneral.com/news
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Keaton Thomas Keaton.thomas@avangrid.com 503-956-9621
PGE Communications pgecommunications@pgn.com 503-464-2067
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