Morrow County
Population: 11,166 (2017)
County Seat: Heppner
Energy Utilities:
Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Wasco Electric Cooperative
Pacific Power
How do Morrow County residents heat their homes?
Did you know?
Morrow County is home to Portland General Electric’s Boardman Coal Plant, Oregon’s only coal-fired power plant. The state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requires the utility to phase out coal-produced electricity by 2040, and PGE expects to close its plant by the end of 2020.
In addition to the coal plant, Morrow has a number of other Energy Facility Siting Council-jurisdiction energy facilities:
The proposed Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line would travel through the county.
The Carty Generating Station includes an operating natural gas power plant and a proposed 50-megawatt solar facility.
The Wheatridge Wind Energy Facility is a 500-megawatt wind facility that has been approved for construction, but is not yet built.
The Boardman Solar Energy Facility was the Energy Facility Siting Council’s first approved utility-scale solar project. The 75-megawatt facility has not yet been built.
The Saddle Butte Wind Park is a 399-megawatt wind facility that has been approved for construction, but not yet built.
The Columbia Ethanol Project is an operating facility, and produces up to 44 million gallons of ethanol per year.
The Coyote Springs Cogeneration Facility is an operating 503-megawatt natural gas facility.
Shepherds Flat Central and South are both 290-megawatt wind facilities that partially operate in Morrow County (and in next door Gilliam County).
Check out how solar energy has expanded in this and other Oregon counties since 1999.