What is the Renewable Portfolio Standard?
Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 469A established a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) as state law in 2007. It requires all electric utilities in Oregon to get a certain share of the electricity they sell from renewable energy sources — like wind, solar, and some types of water power. The RPS requires utilities to retire a certain number of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually.
The goal is to help Oregon use less fossil fuel (like natural gas and coal) and more clean energy over time. Think of it as Oregon setting a minimum bar for how “green” a utility’s energy supply needs to be.
At Columbia Power Cooperative, our energy supply is already very green – 100% of the energy we sell to members comes from Bon
neville Power Administration, through carbon-free hydropower resources as renewable energy!
Who oversees this law?
As a consumer-owned cooperative, we are not regulated by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Instead, Oregon law (ORS 469A.170) says we must report our results directly to our members — that’s you! This page is that report.
What does this mean for our co-op?
Because Columbia Power Cooperative serves a relatively small number of customers, we are classified as a “Smallest Utility” under Oregon’s RPS law. This means we supply less than 1.5% of Oregon’s total retail electricity.
Under this classification, our renewable energy requirement is 5% of qualifying energy sales, and remains so through 2040.We can meet our RPS obligation by purchasing and retiring Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) each year.
How is our compliance obligation calculated?
Our annual obligation is calculated as follows:
- Identify our BPA Tier 2 purchases. However, not all power bought from BPA is treated the same way. Tier 1 power (standard federal hydropower) is fully exempt from the RPS, and is not required to be replaced with new renewables. Tier 2 power is above that baseline, and it is subject to the RPS obligation.
- Columbia Power Cooperative is a Tier 1 Full Requirements load-following customer of BPA, and is therefore exempt and not subject to the RPS obligation.