The Boardman Power Plant is a 585-megawatt coal-fired generating facility in northeastern Oregon. It is a workhorse for PGE, dependably producing about 20 percent of our net generating capacity — enough to serve about 280,000 residential customers a year.

PGE’s only coal-fired generating plant, Boardman produces electricity at a reasonable price with proven technology and abundant fuel supplies. It remains one of our most cost-effective sources of power.

PGE is currently working with state environmental regulators to address controls for mercury emissions at the plant, as well as emissions that contribute to haze. To learn more, see Boardman emission controls at a glance chart and consult our report on the Best Available Retrofit Technology (pdf) for Boardman .

• What is PGE doing about Boardman air emissions?
• Why are new controls needed?
• How much will the proposed controls reduce emissions from the Boardman plant?
• How will these new controls affect the price of electricity?
• How long will this process take?
• Why is upgrading Boardman so important?
• Why does a diverse power supply matter?
• What is PGE doing to maintain a diverse, reliable power supply?
• Who owns the Boardman Power Plant?

What is PGE doing about Boardman air emissions?

PGE has developed an aggressive action plan to cut permitted haze-causing emissions from the plant by more than 76 percent as our part of a shared regional and statewide commitment to improve visibility in wilderness areas and national parks such as Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier. We also have agreed to install controls to cut the plant's emissions of airborne mercury by 90 percent — one of the most ambitious mercury reduction targets in the nation.

This long-term, comprehensive emissions control strategy requires an investment of about $300 million to $400 million. It will involve major construction at the Boardman plant, including installation of:

• a scrubber to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions
• a fabric filter to reduce SO₂, particulate matter and mercury emissions
• new burners, modified over-fire air ports and a selective non-catalytic reduction system on the plant's steam boiler to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x)
• a sorbent injection system for mercury control

These are not off-the-shelf controls that PGE can simply buy and install as part of routine maintenance at the plant. They have to be carefully engineered, manufactured and constructed over the next several years to work together and with the existing facility. That way, PGE customers will get what they're paying for — major environmental improvements that allow a key energy resource to continue supplying dependable power at a reasonable price.

Why are new controls needed?
New federal and state rules related to reducing power plant emissions are driving the need for new controls. PGE is involved in two regulatory processes, one regarding emissions that contribute to haze in natural parks and federal wilderness areas and the other relating to mercury emissions. PGE has been working with Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission and Department of Environmental Quality to address both of these areas of concern.

The Boardman plant was designed to minimize emissions by using low-sulfur coal, low-NOx emissions burners and an oversized electrostatic precipitator to control particle emissions. These controls exceeded environmental standards when the plant was licensed and built in the late 1970s, but improvements in technology have made it possible to reduce emissions even further today.

How much will the proposed controls reduce emissions from the Boardman plant?
DEQ's new mercury control standards require PGE to reduce mercury emissions from the Boardman plant by 90 percent or to 0.6 pounds per trillion Btu. This is one of the strictest standards in the nation. PGE will develop a final mercury control strategy by 2009 that includes a multi-pollutant approach addressing both mercury and haze-causing emissions. The mercury controls must be coordinated with the haze requirements so that contracts for and engineering and construction of the entire control package can be accomplished efficiently and effectively.

The proposed controls for haze-causing emissions are expected to cut Boardman's potential emissions of SO₂, NO_x and particulate matter by more than 76 percent. Out of all the controls we evaluated, we concluded our proposed solution is the BART plan.

Reducing emissions from Boardman is just one piece of a larger puzzle to reduce haze and improve visibility in the Columbia Gorge and other key protected areas such as Mt. Hood. Car and truck traffic, wood smoke, trains, farms, factories, river barges and pollution from urban areas contribute significantly to haze as well. In fact, independent research and computer modeling conducted for DEQ and other state and federal agencies shows that totally eliminating emissions from Boardman would achieve “practically zero” additional visibility benefit beyond the BART plan identified by PGE.

How will these new controls affect the price of electricity?
The investment in new environmental controls for Boardman will eventually have to be reflected in our customers' electricity bills. Subject to approval by the Oregon Public Utility Commission, we estimate a price increase of about 3 percent. The price increase resulting from the Boardman retrofit will be one component of PGE's future rates, along with power costs, investments in renewable energy and other factors. Collectively and over time, this can have a significant impact on customers' bills. That's why it is important for PGE to balance the cost-effectiveness of the control package selected so that our customers get the most benefit for their investment.

How long will this process take?
Two things need to happen before controls can be installed.

• State and federal regulators need to approve the control packages for regional haze. This will involve an extensive public review process in late 2007 and the first half of 2008.
  
  
• PGE needs to work with qualified contractors and vendors to design the controls, obtain the equipment and install it. That's a major job — on par with building an entirely new plant — and will take about 4.5 years, assuming no regulatory delays. Fully 50 percent of the electricity in the United States is generated using coal, and virtually every coal-fired generating plant in the nation faces the need to install retrofit emission controls to meet one or both of these new rules. That means the market for control equipment and qualified contractors to install it will likely be very tight for the foreseeable future.

Current timelines call for new haze controls to be installed at Boardman by 2013 or 2014, depending on when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approves the DEQ State Implementation Plan.

Why is upgrading Boardman so important?
PGE has one of the most diverse power mixes in the country, which helps us provide reliable, reasonably priced power for our customers. As one of our most dependable and cost-effective generating resources, Boardman is a critical part of the mix. By installing new, cost-effective environmental controls, we can continue to operate this important workhorse. Upgrading Boardman is an important part of PGE's long-term, comprehensive strategy to make our energy portfolio more sustainable, environmentally and economically, so it can continue to meet our customers' electricity needs.

Why does a diverse power supply matter?
A diverse power supply avoids putting all our eggs in one basket. PGE generates electricity using hydroelectric dams, wind farms and thermal plants that burn either natural gas or coal. We also buy power on the wholesale energy market. Beyond that, we work with customers to promote energy efficiency — a source of energy that will become increasingly important in the next few years — and we support development of new renewable sources of energy like solar and biomass.

We need a diverse mix in part because each source of energy has advantages and disadvantages. Hydroelectric power is inexpensive and creates no emissions, but there's little or no potential for new hydro development and demand for electricity is growing. Hydro power also isn't a guaranteed source because it depends on strong stream flows that may not exist during regional droughts.

While wind power doesn't generate air pollution and the “fuel” is free, it is even more variable than hydro power. The wind doesn't always blow, and unlike the water behind our dams, it cannot be stored. The times when it isn't blowing are often the times when demand for electricity is highest — when it's very hot or very cold. Other renewable sources of energy have promise — like wave energy, which PGE helps support through research at Oregon State University — but experts believe it will take years before they are ready for commercial-scale power generation.

Coal and natural gas can dependably produce electricity when customers want it, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, but they have environmental impacts. We're working hard to reduce our reliance on these fuels, in part by adding new renewable resources like our Biglow Canyon Wind Farm. But for now, we need thermal generation resources. Without them, our customers would be at greater risk of volatile prices and supply problems that could hurt both household budgets and the region's economy.

What is PGE doing to maintain a diverse, reliable power supply?
In June 2007, we brought our new natural gas-fired plant at Port Westward online — a plant that has won independent accolades as one of the best and most efficient plants in the world. We're making significant investments to improve fish passage at our hydroelectric plants so we can continue operating these cost-effective resources. By December 2007, phase one of our Biglow Wind Farm will be complete; when all three phases are developed, it will be one of the largest wind projects in the region. Now we're proposing major investments to reduce the environmental impact of the Boardman plant.

PGE has been a key supplier of energy for Oregon homes and businesses for 119 years. The Boardman plant is an important part of our state's energy future. PGE is proposing emissions solutions at the plant that will allow us to address environmental concerns while still serving Oregon's need for reliable power at a reasonable price.

Who owns the Boardman Power Plant?
PGE owns 65 percent of the plant. The other plant owners are BA Leasing BSC LLC, 15 percent; Idaho Power Company, 10 percent; and Power Resources Cooperative, 10 percent.