FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

838 Heads for Floor Vote in the House

Salem: On Wednesday, SB 838, the Oregon Renewable Energy Act, heads back to the House Floor, as a special order of business, for a vote by the full House.

Salem:  On Wednesday, SB 838, the Oregon Renewable Energy Act, heads back to the House Floor, as a special order of business, for a vote by the full House.

SB 838 calls for 25% of the state's electricity to come from new renewable sources by 2025 and will help ensure that Oregonians benefit from greater energy independence, a stronger economy and stable electricity prices, using electricity that comes from clean, homegrown, renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and wave energy.

“Oregon can and must take action to reduce global warming pollution. We can do this by getting more electricity from clean energy sources like wind and solar,” said Jeremiah Baumann, an advocate for Environment Oregon.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have already set standards specifying that electric utilities generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources (see map). Texas developed 700 megawatts (MW) of wind power in 2005 alone and Colorado has nearly 800 MW currently under negotiation.  In Oregon it has taken nearly a decade to get more than 400 MW installed.

Establishing an effect renewable energy standard is one of the priorities of the Oregon Conservation Network, the coalition of Oregon’s environmental groups.

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