2024 Year in Review
From Our Director
One of my favorite traditions as we turn to a new year is to look back and reflect on the Oregon Department of Energy team’s incredible work over the past year.
2024 brought us many opportunities to continue making progress toward an equitable clean energy future. We started out the year with a new study on cooling needs in Oregon homes with interactive tools to highlight important data and key findings – including that nearly 60 percent of households surveyed had an immediate or long-term need for better cooling equipment. ODOE offers two heat pump incentive programs to support installing this potentially life-saving technology into owner-occupied and rental homes across the state (while ODOE has limited remaining program funds, we expect federal grants will support heat pump programs in the coming years). We rolled out a new federally funded Grid Resilience Grant Program to finance projects that strengthen resilience of the electric grid, and received 13 grant applications from electric utilities that are now in review with the U.S. Department of Energy. We also launched another round of Community Renewable Energy Grant funding and selected 34 new recipients to receive nearly $18 million in grants to support planning and construction of renewable energy or energy resilience projects. We made $1.2 million available for local government projects through the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program and announced 13 awards in late summer. Oregon applied for and was awarded significant new federal funding this year, including $86.6 million for the Solar for All program to support renewable energy for low-income Oregonians, a $197 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant to support programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including funding for ODOE’s heat pump programs, and $113 million for home energy rebates. ODOE launched a new grant program to support energy resilience planning in Oregon counties. We published a new Oregon Energy Security Plan that assesses threats and identifies actions to strengthen Oregon’s energy security, as well as the fourth edition of our Biennial Energy Report. In November, the Energy Facility Siting Council approved the largest solar project to date – the Sunstone Solar Project – which, if constructed, will add up to 1,200 megawatts of solar generation components and up to 1,200 MW of distributed battery storage in Morrow County. With that approval, nearly 2.8 gigawatts of state jurisdiction solar projects are ready to move toward construction. These are just a few of the highlights from 2024 – check out our monthly newsletters for additional milestones and updates.
We are able to celebrate these successes and milestones thanks to our many partnerships and engaged Oregonians. This year, you weighed in on proposed energy facilities, shared your ideas for a new energy strategy for the state, recommended topics in our Biennial Energy Report, considered changes to administrative rules for ODOE programs, helped us analyze risks to our energy security, and much more. We’re so grateful for your thoughtful engagement – you help make our work better.
ODOE is looking forward to continuing our work in 2025, including important ODOE incentive programs, reviewing proposed energy facilities, finalizing an Oregon Energy Strategy, developing a new edition of the Biennial Zero Emission Vehicle Report, and much more.
As we welcome the new year, we’re also celebrating the Oregon Department of Energy’s birthday! 2025 is ODOE’s 50th year serving Oregonians. We have some fun plans in the works to mark the occasion – we hope you’ll celebrate with us.
In honor of our 50th anniversary, this year we thought we’d use our Year in Review to look back at ODOE’s first 49 years. We’ve shared some milestones below, and be sure to check out our interactive Energy History Timeline to see more important memories starting in 1975.
It’s my honor to serve as Director of the Oregon Department of Energy, to work with you, and to lead the incredible team of professionals here at the agency.
Happy New Year!
ODOE Director Janine Benner
49 Years in Review
1975
The Oregon Legislature creates the Oregon Department of Energy following the oil crisis of the early 1970s. The statute creating the agency notes that continued growth and demand for non-renewable energy poses a serious and immediate – and future – problem. “It is essential that future generations not be left a legacy of vanished or depleted resources, resulting in massive environmental, social, and financial impact,” reads the statute. It also declares a goal that ODOE promote the efficient use of energy resources and develop permanent energy resources – a goal that continues today as ODOE works to develop a new state energy strategy and Oregon prepares for new electricity needs and load growth.
The same legislatation that creates ODOE converts the Nuclear Thermal Coordinating Council to the Energy Facility Siting Council, which continues the work of overseeing the siting, construction, operation, and decommissioning of energy facilities that originally began in 1959. This work protects public health and safety as well as the environment. One of the earliest facilities approved is the Boardman Coal Plant, which begins operating in 1980. In 2020, the coal plant is shut down, and in 2022 is demolished.
Oregon's state capitol building in Salem, OR.
1977
The same year the Portland Trail Blazers win the NBA championship, Oregon establishes the Residential Energy Tax Credit program at ODOE. For over 40 years, the program provides incentives for homeowners to invest in energy-efficient improvements and renewable energy. Over the life of the program, nearly 600,000 Oregonians participate.
1987
The Oregon Legislature forms the Oregon Hanford Waste Board (later renamed the Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board) as the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington turns to cleanup. For more than 40 years, the federal government produced plutonium at the site for America’s nuclear weapons program. It created significant amounts of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste. Oregon has a tremendous stake in ensuring the safe and timely cleanup of Hanford, as it sits on the Columbia River just 35 miles from Oregon’s border. The Oregon Department of Energy team staffs the Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board and provides expert analysis and positions on cleanup decisions on behalf of the state. While ODOE has no regulatory authority at Hanford, the federal government recognizes the agency as a critical, objective voice in technical review and policy discussions related to cleanup.
ODOE Hydrogeologist Tom Sicilia discusses an emergency response approach with Oregon Health Authority Health Physicist Brent Herring and Oregon State University Senior Health Physicist Scott Menn during a 2024 nuclear emergency exercise.
1994
The Energy Facility Siting Council approves Oregon’s first natural gas facility, the Hermiston Generating Project. It begins operations in 1996 and continues to provide energy to Oregonians today.
1997
Oregon is the first state to establish a price on carbon with the Energy Facility Siting Council’s CO2 Standard. It requires power plants to avoid, displace, or sequester a portion of their CO2 emissions; applicants can also pay a fee, known as the monetary offset rate, to offset emissions. As of the end of 2024, ODOE and EFSC are conducting rulemaking activities to update the monetary rate from $4.27 per ton of CO2 emissions to $6.40 per ton.
2001
Oregon’s first utility-scale wind energy facility is constructed in Umatilla County after gaining Energy Facility Siting Council approval. The 222-megawatt facility has 229 turbines that rise 440 feet into the air.
As of 2024, Oregon has over 2,700 megawatts of operating state jurisdiction wind facilities. Nearly 10 percent of the electricity Oregonians use comes from wind.
2002
The State of Oregon becomes the first state to install solar panels on its capitol building.
2007
The Oregon Legislature passes the Renewable Energy Act, which sets ambitious goals for renewable energy development. ODOE was tasked with helping to implement the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires that 25 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewable resources by 2025. In 2016, the Legislature increased the RPS requirement to 50 percent renewables by 2040.
That same year, the Oregon Global Warming Commission is established. The governor-appointed body is staffed by ODOE and tasked with tracking greenhouse gas emissions in the state and recommending ways to coordinate state and local efforts to reduce emissions. The commission is to also work with communities to prepare for the effects of climate change. In 2023, the Legislature passed a bill to modernize and rename the group the Oregon Climate Action Commission.
2016
Oregon passes HB 4036 and SB 1547, considered the Coal to Clean Plan. It requires Oregon’s largest utilities to phase out coal-fired power by 2030 and achieve 50 percent renewable energy by 2040.
2018
The Energy Facility Siting Council approves Oregon’s first state jurisdiction solar project, known as Boardman Solar. While the developer ultimately did not construct the facility, it is the first of many solar projects seeking approval by the state. Most projects in front of EFSC today are solar projects.
As of 2024, Oregon has about 200 megawatts of state jurisdiction solar in operation, with an additional nearly 6,000 megawatts approved but not yet built or currently under review by the Energy Facility Siting Council.
2021
ODOE develops its first agency Strategic Plan, including a new mission to more accurately reflect its work. “The Oregon Department of Energy helps Oregonians make informed decisions and maintain a resilient and affordable energy system. We advance solutions to shape an equitable clean energy transition, protect the environment and public health, and responsibly balance energy needs and impacts for current and future generations.”
That same year, the Oregon Legislature passes HB 2021, which requires the state’s largest electric utilities and all electricity service suppliers to provide 100 percent clean electricity by 2040, with interim targets of 80 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2035. The bill also creates ODOE’s Community Renewable Energy Grant Program.
2023-2024
Oregon applies for and is awarded significant federal funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub, of which Oregon is a partner, is selected in 2023 for up to $1 billion to develop a clean hydrogen economy in Oregon, Washington, and Montana. In 2024, Oregon is awarded $86.6 million in Solar for All funding, a $197 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant, $113 million for home energy rebates, and more.
Governor Kotek joined state agency partners in summer 2024 to celebrate a $197 million federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant award to Oregon.
2024
ODOE publishes a new Energy Security Plan that outlines the state’s current energy infrastructure, quantifies threats and hazards that cause energy insecurity, and identifies potential measures the state and its partners can implement to manage risk and strengthen Oregon’s energy security. ODOE also publishes its latest edition of the Biennial Energy Report.
That same year, Oregon reaches an important electric vehicle milestone, with more than 100,000 registered EVs on Oregon roads, including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
2025
The Oregon Department of Energy turns 50 and looks forward to serving Oregonians for the next 50 years!
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