electric grid

Three workers in orange vests and blue jeans stand on either side of a gray narrow trench. The two workers in the foreground of the picture are holding gray poles. Red and blue caution tape is draped into the trench. The trench in the foreground has gray cement in it. The third worker in the background is standing next to the spout on a cement truck. Gray cement is pouring down the spout into the trench.

Federal grant to help people in Northeastern Washington get hooked up to the power grid

Courtney Flatt

Some people in Northeastern Washington aren’t hooked up to the electric grid. But a new federal grant will help people in those remote places access electricity for the first time.

The towering smokestack at Portland General Electric’s shuttered coal-fired power plant near Boardman falls, heralding the end of the era of coal-fired power generation in Oregon, Sept. 15, 2022.

Environment and Planning

Explosive demolition of Boardman coal plant underscores end of coal-fired electric generation in Oregon

Tom Banse

A demolition contractor on Thursday imploded the towering smokestack and 19-story boiler building at Portland General Electric’s shuttered coal-fired power plant near Boardman, bringing a symbolic close to the era of coal-fired power generation in Oregon. Imported electricity generated from coal still flows through transmission wires across the Pacific Northwest, but that looks to be winding down soon, too.

Utility crews replace power poles burned in the Beachie Creek Fire east of Salem in September 2020.

Energy

Electric utilities in Northwest spending millions on upgrades to reduce risk of wildfire ignitions

Tom Banse

Private electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest are planning tens of millions of dollars in upgrades to reduce the risk that their power lines could spark wildfires during extreme weather. Utilities such as Pacific Power, Avista, Idaho Power, Portland General Electric and Puget Sound Energy are either required to or are voluntarily submitting wildfire mitigation plans.

Transportation

Northwest Utilities Amp Up New Business Line Of Charging Electric Cars

Tom Banse

Spokane-based Avista Utilities and Seattle City Light --perhaps soon to be joined by Oregon's two biggest electric utilities: Portland General Electric &…