The state’s largest electric utility submitted a Clean Energy Plan this month to the Oregon Public Utility Commission, which regulates utility rates. The plan asks regulators for flexibility as PGE weighs climate requirements against affordability and grid reliability.

Oregon’s 2021 clean energy law requires utilities to cut greenhouse gas emissions tied to the electricity they provide by 80% from 2010-12 levels by 2030. The law sets a further benchmark for 2035 and requires utilities to eliminate those emissions by 2040.

PGE’s plan presents two possible paths. Its Preferred Portfolio would meet the 2030 target, but the company says the pace of construction could put pressure on rates and reliability. It would require nearly 7 gigawatts of additional renewable energy by 2030 and 2 more gigawatts by 2032, bringing the total additions to 9 gigawatts.

A second option, called the Continued Progress Portfolio, would reduce emissions by 60% by 2030 and 70% by 2035. PGE says that approach would better protect customer affordability, requiring about 3.4 gigawatts of added renewable energy by 2030 and as much as 5 gigawatts by 2032. It would fall short of the state’s 2030 benchmark.

PGE vice president of policy and sustainability Kristen Sheeran said federal policy changes have put the cost and availability of renewable energy tax credits in question. Those credits, she said, have historically reduced project costs for customers by 20% to 50%, depending on the project. Supply-chain problems, slow permitting and a shortage of new transmission lines also complicate efforts to build renewable projects and deliver their power, she said.

At the same time, electricity demand is rising as data centers expand and households and businesses switch to electric vehicles and appliances. That makes it more difficult for utilities to predict how much power they will need to procure while cutting emissions.

Since House Bill 2021 passed, PGE says it has added about 3 gigawatts of renewable energy projects, which now make up 37% of its portfolio. The company says its emissions are 25% below the law’s 2010-12 baseline. About half the electricity it supplied to nearly 960,000 customers in 2025 came from sources that do not emit carbon, according to PGE.

The utility has also announced plans to add more than 1 gigawatt of renewable generation and battery storage by 2028. PGE owns about 3.5 gigawatts of generation, equivalent to roughly 56% of the power it sells; the company obtains the rest through contracts and wholesale markets.

Charlotte Shuff, communications and outreach director for the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, called PGE’s challenges “a speed bump, not a roadblock.” She said the state’s clean-energy transition will require utilities to adapt to changes in electricity demand and federal policy, and that PGE still has time to adjust before the 2040 deadline.

“There’s no silver bullet here,” Sheeran said, noting that no single project or energy resource can deliver the emissions cuts the company needs. The Public Utility Commission will consider PGE’s plan as it weighs the utility’s proposed balance of emissions reductions, costs and reliability.