Committed to renewable power
In September 1995, the board adopted a policy to replace all non-renewable BPA power currently being purchased by Salem Electric with power generated from renewable resources, not to exceed an amount equal to the cost of a 4% rate increase.
In November 1995, BPA offered to provide up to 15 megawatts of power to SE from four renewable resources. The power would be available 100% of the time since it would be backed with BPA's hydro system.
The proposed projects included Foote Creek Rim, a wind plant in Wyoming. The cost was calculated at 3.5 cents per kWh, and a contract was signed in November 1998.
Effective October 2001, SE executed a Full-Service Subscription Power Sales Agreement with BPA, which had a provision to purchase 4.5 aMW of BPA's Enviornmentally Preferred Power (EPP) product. BPA's resource mix was 90% renewable, therefore the non-renewable portion dropped to 4.5MW. At the September 2003 board meeting, the board approved a staff recommendation to not renew the EPP contract and to study available alternatives.
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Effective October 1, 2006, Salem Electric entered into an agreement with BPA to purchase 1.8 aMW of renewable energy from BPA. A 1% rate increase was necessary to cover the added cost. In June 2009, the renewable amount was increased to 2.34 aMW, representing 6.2% of our load. That contract expired October 1, 2011. Currently EPP is at a premium cost and the board has elected to wait until prices come down before buying additional green power. Approximately 80% of the power purchased from BPA is generated from renewable resources and almost 90% is greenhouse gas free.
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