Just about everything involves energy. It’s part of our daily lives – from driving our cars and heating our homes to turning on our computers and firing up the grill after a long day.

This section builds the foundation of the energy story: how energy is produced, used, and transformed. These Energy 101s were developed for people new to energy or specific energy topics, along with those looking for a resource to help tell the story of how energy systems affect their work and interests. Energy policy is complex and, without being armed with technical information and understanding, it is sometimes difficult to be part of the conversations.

Energy is intertwined in everything that Oregonians do – from powering vehicles to support our livelihoods and economy, to electricity and fuels that serve as the backbone for industry and businesses. Everyone should have the opportunity to engage in energy choices, whether its options to reduce energy use and costs for homes, businesses, and industry or how we meet the challenge of transitioning our energy systems to cleaner, more renewable resources.

Read full “Energy 101” section

Emerging Energy Technologies and Advancements

We hope these 101s continue to build foundational knowledge so readers can make informed choices about the energy resources, uses, and investments that can change our work, lives, and communities.

101s this year touch on a variety of topics. We look at important emerging topics like the clean hydrogen economy, the state of agrivoltaics, and what’s driving electricity rates. We also explore the nexus of energy and water, home energy scoring, and more that includes the following:

Electricity Day-Ahead Markets

Every day, electric utilities work to reliably provide electricity to consumers. Because there is currently limited capacity to store electricity on the system, utilities must typically meet consumer demand in real time—perfectly balancing the supply of electricity with demand every minute of every day. Learn more

What’S Driving Electricity RateS?

For many Oregonians, electricity prices have increased in the past few years. Some have questioned whether Oregon’s clean energy goals are to blame for the recent electricity price increases. For many Oregonians, the answer is simple: no. There are several factors that contribute to costs, and, to some extent, power cost increases reflect a rising cost for utilities to generate and deliver electricity. Learn more

Effects of Climate Change on Energy Systems

From deadly heatwaves to severe storms to increased wildfire risk, Oregon is no stranger to the negative effects of climate change. In the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute’s Sixth Oregon Climate Assessment, the institute described how climate change is already contributing to extreme heat, drought, wildfires, coastal erosion, and other erratic weather conditions and hazards in Oregon.  Learn more

Energy Resilience

Energy resilience refers to the ability of energy systems to withstand and rapidly restore energy delivery following non-routine disruptions that can be caused by natural hazards and physical or cyber-attacks on energy systems. Energy resilience is pursued from the national to the community level with differing emphases. Learn more