Net Zero Emissions
Brett Sims is VP for strategy, regulation and energy supply at Portland General Electric.
There's decarbonizing. And then there's decarbonizing! That's the not-kidding-around strategy at Portland General Electric, which they announced six weeks ago, to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2040. You read that right. Nineteen years from now. And, just for good measure, an eighty percent elimination of these emissions by the year 2030.
Do the math. That's only nine years from now. It didn't take long for PGE — headed by CEO Maria Pope — to walk the talk. The announcement was just twenty days old when they started up Wheatridge, the three hundred megawatt wind farm jointly developed with renewables leader NextEra Energy. Plus, fifty megawatts of solar capacity and thirty megawatts of storage capacity will be added there this year.
Three hundred jobs were created to create this new wind farm and a hundred and seventy-five were added to add solar and storage. Nice! Read more about why and how PGE is going to net zero, below, as told by the company's strategy VP.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: We want to talk about this big announcement aiming at 2040, but first, what do you do at Portland General Electric?