Energy Production
Energy Production and Electricity Generation
Energy production focuses on primary and secondary energy produced in Oregon. Primary energy represents energy that is collected from Oregon’s natural resources — it does not include energy that is imported for consumption or electricity generated in Oregon. Secondary energy is consumed in real time, like electricity, or may be stored for later use, like wood pellets.
This section includes consumption data and energy production context — such as how much of the electricity generated in Oregon comes from hydroelectric, wind, and solar compared to imported natural gas.
Almost all the solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro primary energy is converted to secondary energy as electricity. Some of the biomass is used to make a variety of renewable fuels and some is combusted to produce heat and electricity.
Electricity Over Time
Oregon Electricity Generation: 1990-2022 (MWh)
Oregon’s electricity generation has changed over the years. Hydropower, which is Oregon’s largest electricity resource, varies year-over-year based on precipitation. Oregon hydropower reached a generation high of 46.7 million MWh in 1997 as shown in the chart below. Wind and natural gas have both seen a gradual increase in generation over time. In 2022, natural gas was the second largest share of Oregon’s electricity generation, at 19.0 million MWh. Coal generation no longer occurs in Oregon, with the last coal-powered plant closing in 2020. Solar has increased each year since 2011, and is expected to continue growing with several proposed large facilities in planning and review stages.
Oregon’s Electric Facilities
Electricity used by Oregonians can come from facilities across the western United States.
The map above shows the various electricity generation sources in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, a nonprofit organization that focuses on systemwide electricity reliability and security across a geographic region known as the Western Interconnection.
This diverse region includes Oregon and most of the intermountain west and parts of Canada and Baja Mexico.
Electricity
Oregon generates electricity from a variety of resources — hydropower, natural gas, and wind are the largest. In 2022, Oregon’s 105 hydroelectric facilities were responsible for 51% of the electricity generated in Oregon.
The state’s four largest electricity generating facilities are federally owned and operated dams on the Columbia River. They account for two-thirds of the generating capacity from the 10 largest power plants in the state.
Oregon is the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the U.S. after Washington. Oregon’s abundance of renewable electricity is used in Oregon and sold on the energy market to utilities in other states. In 2022, 37% of Oregon’s hydropower and 45% of its wind generation were exported. Additionally, 69% of electricity generated in Oregon in 2022 came from nongreenhouse gas emitting resources. Natural gas produced 31% of Oregon’s 2022 electricity generation.
Nearly all the natural gas used to generate electricity in Oregon is imported. There is only a single natural gas site in Mist, Oregon, but this facility is used primarily for natural gas storage. Oregon has no coal or petroleum resource extraction facilities.