PGE’s Biglow Canyon Wind Farm Expanding Daily
Portland General Electric Company (PGE) (NYSE:POR) announced today that the first turbines erected for phase two of its Biglow Canyon Wind Farm have begun generating electricity and supplying power on the Pacific Northwest’s electricity grid.“This major capital investment is moving forward on time and on budget,” said Jim Piro, PGE president and CEO. “Our customers place a high priority on renewable power, and Biglow Canyon is an important step toward helping PGE meet Oregon’s Renewable Energy Standard.”
Phase one of Biglow Canyon was completed in 2007, with 76 turbines and an installed capacity of 125 megawatts of electricity. Trucks laden with wind-turbine parts for this second phase began rolling into Biglow in mid-April. A total of 65 new turbines are scheduled for completion this spring and summer — with about 10 truckloads of parts delivered per wind turbine. Twelve turbines are currently generating power.
Each of the new turbines will be capable of generating up to 2.3 megawatts, bringing Biglow Canyon’s combined installed capacity to nearly 275 megawatts by the end of 2009. A third phase with another 76 turbines is slated for commercial operation in 2010, which will bring the wind farm to a combined installed capacity of 450 megawatts. Given the variability of wind power, the plant is expected to produce an average of around 150 megawatts – enough to power the homes of about 125,000 average PGE residential customers.
The Biglow Canyon Wind Farm is located near Wasco in Sherman County, Ore. It is PGE’s newest renewable energy project. When complete, it is expected to be one of the largest wind power facilities in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to providing carbon-free and emissions-free generation of electric power, the wind farm is also creating jobs, providing income for local businesses, generating tax revenues for local government, and providing easement payments to landowners.
The Biglow Canyon project was developed by Orion Energy LLC. It is being built by PGE, which will also own and operate it.
$75 Million Stimuls for Portland Street Car Expansion
The city’s much-admired streetcar network recently got $75 million in stimulus funds for an expansion. On hand for the festivities today were DOT chief Ray LaHood and transportation savvy Oregon congressmen Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer.
Oregon Iron Works Gets Tuscon Streetcar Contract
Local company Oregon Iron Works made the machine at a nearby factory that employs hundreds of skilled laborers. The company has a pending order from Portland for a half dozen streetcars and one worth $26 million from the city of Tuscon for seven more. OIW aims to get at least 60 percent of its parts from other US companies and to help seed an urban transit industry in Oregon.
Since about 1950, building modern streetcars has been a lost art in this country. OIW decided, based on the success of Portland’s streetcar line, to try to rediscover it and claims that their product is already of a higher quality than European competitors
Union Pacific invested more than $127.5 million in Oregon in 2008.
Motorists will spend less time at crossings waiting for trains to pass with trains operating more efficiently as a result of more than $5.9 million in track improvements made by Union Pacific Railroad to the line between Portland and Oregon City.
When the project is complete, crews will have removed and installed more than 38,000 ties and renewed the road surfaces at 59 crossings. Work began on the project June 1 and was completed on June 16.
Oregon gets A+ For $224 Million Stimulus Use
Federal statistics show Oregon has met a federal deadline for putting stimulus dollars at work on transportation projects. The state got $224 million for highways and transportation from the stimulus act.The law requires the state to commit half of the money within four months and the other half within a year.
A federal report shows the Oregon department easily met the four-month target at the end of June. Department spokesman Dave Thompson says Oregon has actually obligated the entire $224 million. That means the projects have gone through the bidding process and the federal government has OK'd them.
Thompson says contracts have been signed for most projects.