Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Electric power |
Founded | 1910[1] |
Headquarters | Lloyd Center Tower Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
Area served | |
Key people |
|
Owners |
|
Number of employees | 5,700 [2] |
Parent | Berkshire Hathaway Energy |
Subsidiaries |
|
Footnotes /references Area Served [3] |
PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States.
PacifiCorp has two business units:
PacifiCorp operates one of the largest privately held transmission systems in the U.S. within the western Energy Imbalance Market. [4]
Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power combined serve over 1.6 million residential customers, 202,000 commercial customers, and 37,000 industrial and irrigation customers, for a total of approximately 1,813,000 customers. The service area is 143,000 square miles (370,000 km2). The company owns and maintain 16,500 miles (26,600 km) of long-distance transmission lines, 64,000 miles (103,000 km) of distribution lines, and 900 substations.
Pacific Power & Light was formed in 1910 from the merger of several financially troubled utilities in Oregon and Washington to form the Pacific Power & Light Company. It gradually expanded its reach to include most of Oregon, as well as portions of California, Washington and Wyoming. In 1984, it reorganized itself as a holding company, PacifiCorp, headquartered in Portland with Pacific Power as its main subsidiary.
Utah Power and Light (UP&L) was organized on 6 September 1912 from the merger of four electric companies in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and was a Salt Lake City subsidiary of a large holding company, Electric Bond and Share Company (EBASCO) of New York. Within four years of its organization, UP&L had purchased twenty-seven other electric companies in the general Utah area, and eventually absorbed more than one hundred thirty. In 1881, one of those companies had made Salt Lake City the fifth city in the world with central station electricity.
In 1954, Pacific Power & Light merged with the Mountain States Power Company, essentially doubling the company's service area. In 1961, the company purchased the California Oregon Power Company, extending its service into southern Oregon and northern California. [5]
In 1977, PacifiCorp spun off its coal mining interests into a mining company known as NERCO, which was eventually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ranked as high as 353 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest American companies. Through its majority interest in NERCO, PacifiCorp was involved in the mining of coal, oil, natural gas, gold, silver, and uranium. PacifiCorp still owned 82% of NERCO in 1993, when it was acquired by the mining giant Rio Tinto Group. [6]
In 1987, PacifiCorp acquired Utah Power & Light. [7] After the merger with regulator approval on January 9, 1989, Pacific Power and Utah Power operated as divisions of PacifiCorp.
In 2001, PacifiCorp was purchased by Scottish Power. [8] Since 2006, PacifiCorp has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (formerly MidAmerican), itself an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.
In a July 2006 reorganization, Pacific Power's territory in central and eastern Wyoming was merged with the Utah Power territory to form Rocky Mountain Power. [9]
In September 2021, PacifiCorp presented a plan to keep 3 out of 22 coal power plants operational beyond 2040 and to source 56% of its yearly consumption with renewable energy by 2040. [10]
In August 2024, PacifiCorp parent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy revealed that PacifiCorp faced at least $46 billion in claims resulting from four separate class action complaints related to the Labor Day wildfires that took in September 2020 in the Pacific Northwest. [11]
PacifiCorp owns, maintains and operates generation assets and manages the commercial and trading operations of the company. PacifiCorp owns 68 generating plants with a capacity of 9,140 megawatts. 70.6% of the generation is from thermal sources (i.e., coal or natural gas), 6.7% from hydroelectric sources, and 0.2% from renewable sources. 22.5% of PacifiCorp's generation is purchased from other suppliers or under contracts.
In these tables of generation properties owned or partially-owned by PacifiCorp, total capacity is 10,556MW. Of this, 56% is coal, 24% is natural gas, 10% is hydroelectric, and 10% is renewable.
Major generation facilities include:
Plant Name | Location | Fuel | Net Capacity (MW) | Online Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jim Bridger (Two-thirds owner) | Point of Rocks, WY | Coal | 1,413.4 | |
Hunter | Castle Dale, Utah | Coal | 1,112.4 | 1977 |
Huntington | Huntington, Utah | Coal | 895.0 | 1973 |
Dave Johnston | Wyoming | Coal | 762.0 | |
Naughton | Kemmerer, Wyoming | Coal | 357.0 | |
Naughton | Kemmerer, Wyoming | Natural Gas | 247.0 | |
Lake Side | Lindon, Utah | Natural Gas | 1,203.0 | 2007/2014 |
Currant Creek | Mona, Utah | Natural Gas | 540.0 | |
Hermiston | Hermiston, Oregon | Natural Gas | 540.0 | |
Chehalis | Chehalis, Washington | Natural Gas | 540.0 | |
Cholla | Joseph City, Arizona | Coal | 0 | |
Gadsby | Salt Lake City, Utah | Natural Gas | 355.0 | |
Wyodak | Wyoming | Coal | 268.0 | |
Craig (partial owner) | Craig, Colorado | Coal | 165.0 | |
Colstrip (partial owner) | Colstrip, Montana | Coal | 148.0 | |
Hayden (partial owner) | Colorado | Coal | 78.1 | |
Total Coal | 5,579 | |||
Total Gas | 3,265 | |||
TOTAL | 8,844 |
Name | Net Capacity (MW) |
---|---|
Lewis River | 578.2 |
North Umpqua Hydroelectric Project | 199.9 |
Klamath River Hydroelectric Project | 163.8 |
Bear River | 103.9 |
Prospect (Rogue River) | 36.0 |
(30 minor projects) | 78.3 |
TOTAL | 1160 |
Name | Type | Net Capacity (MW) |
---|---|---|
Leaning Juniper I | Wind | 100.5 |
Wolverine Creek | Wind | 64.5 |
Rock River I | Wind | 50.0 |
Combine Hills | Wind | 41.0 |
Foote Creek | Wind | 41.1 |
Blundell | Geothermal | 33.0 |
Goodnoe Hills | Wind | 94 |
Marengo I | Wind | 156 |
Marengo II | Wind | 78 |
Glenrock | Wind | 138 |
Seven Mile Hill | Wind | 99 |
Seven Mile Hill II | Wind | 19.5 |
Rolling Hills | Wind | 99 |
Glenrock III | Wind | 39 |
High Plains | Wind | 99 |
McFadden Ridge | Wind | 28.8 |
Dunlap | Wind | 111 |
Black Cap | Solar | 2 |
Cedar Springs II | Wind | 200 |
Ekola Flats | Wind | 250.9 |
TB Flats I | Wind | 250 |
TB Flats II | Wind | 250 |
Total Wind | 2,209.6 | |
Total Solar | 2 | |
Total Geothermal | 33 | |
TOTAL Renewable | 2,244.6 |
PacifiCorp also owns and operates several captive coal mines located at or very near some of its generation plants. In Wyoming, PacifiCorp operates and has partial interest in Jim Bridger Mine and owns the Dave Johnston Mine, which is in final reclamation. The company also owned and operated the Deer Creek Mine in Utah, near the Huntington Plant but closed it in 2015 and has a partial interest in the Trapper Mine in Colorado.
Calling it a "new era of utility involvement in transportation electrification," the Portland Business Journal in 2018 described PacifiCorp's electric vehicle promotion program as a plan that promises new electric vehicle charging sites, outreach and education efforts. The program was spawn from legislation passed in 2016 that called for more renewable energy from the state's utility companies. [12]
As of May 1, 2007, Rocky Mountain Power serves approximately 758,000 customers in Utah, 129,000 customers in Idaho, and 67,000 customers in Wyoming.
In November 2017, Rocky Mountain Power made a deal with Utah's utility authorities to phase out net metering. The program was paying customers who generated their own electricity with rooftop solar panels the residential rate for their excess energy that got sent back into the energy grid. As of August 2018, new rooftop solar installations were down 23 percent, likely due to the cancellation of the net metering program. New solar customers are paid by a transitional program that pays slightly less than the residential rate until 2033. People who installed solar panels prior to November 2017 are grandfathered at the previous rates until 2035. [13]
PacifiCorp is headquartered in the Lloyd Center Tower [14] at 825 N.E. Multnomah Street, Portland, Oregon, in the Lloyd District. Pacific Power is also headquartered in the same building. Rocky Mountain Power is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Pacific Power serves customers in Washington, Oregon and California. Major cities served include:
As of December 31, 2009, Pacific Power serves 555,070 customers in Oregon, 126,665 customers in Washington, and 45,148 customers in California. [15]
Rocky Mountain Power serves customers in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.
Major cities served include:
Ammon, Lava Hot Springs, Malad City, Montpelier, Preston, Rigby, Rexburg, Saint Anthony, Shelley
Rocky Mountain Power serves most major cities in Utah, with the following exceptions:
Bountiful, Kaysville, Lehi, Logan, Provo, Murray, Monroe, Monticello, Springville, St. George
Buffalo, Casper, Cody, Douglas, Evanston, Green River, Kemmerer, Lander, Laramie, Rawlins, Riverton, Rock Springs, Thermopolis
Portland General Electric (PGE) is a Fortune 1000, investor-owned energy company based in Portland, Oregon, that generates, transmits and distributes electricity, serving almost two-thirds of Oregon’s commercial and industrial activity. PGE is regulated by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Founded in 1888 as the Willamette Falls Electric Company, the company has been an independent company for most of its existence, though was briefly owned by the Houston-based Enron Corporation from 1997 until 2006, almost 20 years ago, when Enron divested itself of PGE during its bankruptcy.
Scottish Power Limited, trading as ScottishPower, is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola.
The Chelan County Public Utility District, or Chelan County PUD, provides electric, water, wastewater public utility and telecommunications services in Chelan County, in north-central Washington in the United States.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a holding company and subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns 92% of the company. Berkshire has owned a controlling stake since 1999. The company also controls power distribution companies in the United Kingdom and Canada. The remaining 8% is owned by the family of Walter Scott Jr.
The Wilberg Mine is a coal mine in Emery County, Utah, approximately 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Orangeville, just north of State Route 29, at the northern terminus of State Route 57. The mine is operated by the Energy West Mining Company and owned by PacifiCorp Energy.
Black Hills Corporation is a Rapid City, South Dakota diversified energy company that is an electric and gas utility in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. The company sells power throughout the American West.
Wyoming has one of the highest wind power potentials of any state in the United States. In 2019, Wyoming had wind powered electricity generating capacity of 1,589 MW, which produced 9.85% of its electric generation, with an additional 3,753 MW under construction. However, the wind generation in that year was Wyoming's third-lowest in the 2010s. By 2020, wind capacity increased to 2738 MW and 8448 gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced from wind in 2021, more than double 2019 production. Additional wind capacity and needed transmission lines are under construction or planned, despite political headwinds from Wyoming's strong coal and oil sectors.
PECI is a private, non-profit American company based in Portland, Oregon with additional offices in Santa Ana, California and San Francisco, California. PECI designs and manages energy efficiency programs for utility providers, government organizations, and other clients. Some of the organizations PECI has worked with include the U.S. Department of Energy, Avista, Wal-mart, Southern California Edison, the Community Energy Project, Energy Trust of Oregon, Pacific Gas & Electric and the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Net metering is a policy by many states in the United States designed to help the adoption of renewable energy. Net metering was pioneered in the United States as a way to allow solar and wind to provide electricity whenever available and allow use of that electricity whenever it was needed, beginning with utilities in Idaho in 1980, and in Arizona in 1981. In 1983, Minnesota passed the first state net metering law. As of March 2015, 44 states and Washington, D.C. have developed mandatory net metering rules for at least some utilities. However, although the states' rules are clear, few utilities actually compensate at full retail rates.
The U.S. state of Utah has the solar potential to provide all of the electricity used in the United States. Utah is one of the seven states with the best potential for solar power, along with California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Utah's only investor owned utility currently allows partial net metering for residential systems up to 25 kW and up to 2 MW for non-residential users. In the past RMP allowed full net metering, and partial net metering. Neither of these Schedules allows for new customers to sign up any longer. Utah's municipal utilities and electric cooperatives set their own net metering policies.
Energy is a major area of the economy of California. California is the state with the largest population and the largest economy in the United States. It is second in energy consumption after Texas. As of 2018, per capita consumption was the fourth-lowest in the United States partially because of the mild climate and energy efficiency programs.
Wind power in Utah is in the early stages of development. As of 2016 the state had 391 MW of wind generation capacity, responsible for 2.6% of in-state electricity generation. Wind thus plays a small role in the state's renewable portfolio standard goals.
The Klamath River Hydroelectric Project is a series of hydroelectric dams and other facilities on the mainstem of the Klamath River, in a watershed on both sides of the California-Oregon border.
Home energy upgrades from public utilities are added home energy efficiency and renewable energy features planned or installed by public utilities. Help from a public utility can make it easier for a homeowner to select, install or operate climate-friendly components. The utility might assist with coordinated use of utility-supplied energy, building features, financing, operating options and neighborhood supplied energy.
The Escalante Solar Project is a 240 MWAC (315 MWp) photovoltaic power station located about 5 miles north of the town of Milford in Beaver County, Utah. The project was developed by SunEdison, built by Mortenson Construction, and commissioned in September 2016. The power is being sold under three separate 20-year power purchase agreements to Rocky Mountain Power which serves customers in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. At 1900 acres (3.0 sq miles), it is the largest grouping of photovoltaic generators in the state of Utah.
The Enterprise Solar Farm is an 80 MWAC (105 MWp) photovoltaic power station located about 25 miles west of Cedar City, Utah in Iron County. The project was developed by SunEdison, built by Mortenson Construction, and commissioned in September 2016. The electricity is being sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement to Rocky Mountain Power which serves customers in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.