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Oregon's Renewable Energy Share Climbs as Coal Fades and Power Demand Grows, State Report Shows
Oregon now gets more electricity from wind and solar than a decade ago, with coal falling to about 8% of the mix, according to a new state Department of Energy report that also flags rising commercial demand from data centers.
Oregon is drawing a growing share of its electricity from renewable sources while coal use has fallen sharply over the past decade, even as overall power demand rises, according to a biennial report released last week by the Oregon Department of Energy.
The report, which tracks changes in how the state produces and consumes energy, shows that solar generation has increased eighteenfold between 2014 and 2024. Wind and solar now account for 8% and 5% of the state's electricity mix, respectively.
Hydropower remains Oregon's single largest power source, supplying nearly 34% of the state's electricity. Electricity imported from out of state from unspecified sourcesâoften natural gas or coalâmakes up another 21% of the overall share, while power known to come from natural gas accounts for 21%. Nuclear, biomass and geothermal energy contribute smaller shares.
The shift away from coal has been pronounced. In 2016, coal supplied 28% of Oregon's energy mix. By 2024, the most recent year with available data, that figure had fallen by more than two-thirds to about 8%.
The changing mix comes as Oregon works toward legally binding climate targets. A 2021 state law requires the state's largest electric utilities to cut greenhouse gas pollution to 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 90% below those levels by 2035.
On the consumption side, transportation remains the largest category, accounting for more than a third of all energy used in Oregon. Industrial usesâincluding semiconductor manufacturing and agricultureâmake up another 24%.
Commercial energy consumption, a category that includes data centers, has climbed from 16% of statewide power use in 2022 to 20% in 2024, a record high, according to the report. Residential use accounts for the remaining 19%.
The report offers a snapshot of a state navigating rising electricity demand while trying to meet ambitious emissions-reduction goals. The growth in commercial consumption, driven in part by energy-intensive data centers, adds pressure to the grid as utilities retire coal-fired generation and add renewables.
State officials and energy planners are expected to use the findings as they weigh how to balance new demand with the emissions targets set by the 2021 law. The full report is available on the Oregon Department of Energy's website.