Lawsuit may force PGE to close plant early

PGE Boardman Coal Plant Closure advances under Oregon DEQ and EPA oversight, tightening sulfur dioxide and regional haze controls, and prioritizing renewable energy, emissions cuts, and efficiency over natural gas.

Facing a Sierra Club lawsuit and heightened federal scrutiny of its Boardman coal-fired generating plant, Portland General Electric has drafted a much firmer proposal to close Oregon’s only coal plant by December 31, 2020, at least 20 years earlier than anticipated.

The new plan also tightens controls on sulfur dioxide pollution from 2018 to 2020 under Oregon’s pollution cuts program. And it has backing from the Oregon Environmental Council, the Citizens’ Utility Board and other groups, raising the possibility of ending a battle that has raged for years.

To secure the groups’ endorsements, PGE committed to working with them to try to find renewable replacement power, and is seeking power plan input as well, instead of just switching to natural gas.

The Department of Environmental Quality reopened its public comment period on its regional haze rule to consider PGE’s latest proposal. The Environmental Quality Commission is expected to rule on Boardman’s required pollution controls in December after reviewing a cleanup timetable for the coal plant as well.

Until PGE’s latest offer, Oregon’s largest electric utility would have retained the option to install $500 million in pollution controls and keep operating through at least 2040, said Andy Ginsburg, DEQ’s air quality administrator.

The new offer, if approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, explicitly repeals the 2040 option in exchange for less pollution control — under $100 million — and closing early, Ginsburg said.

PGE could request the 2040 option again in coming years if the Sierra Club’s lawsuit or new federal rules upped the ante on pollution controls, a point the utility made clear in its offer to the DEQ. But the regulatory hurdles would be formidable, Ginsburg said.

“From a practical standpoint,” he said, “if the commission accepts this option, they’re going to be, in line with a broader shutdown target trend, closing no later than 2020.”

Even with fewer controls, Boardman’s pollution over the rest of its operating life would be lower if it closed in 2020 than if PGE installed more controls and operated the plant through 2040, Ginsburg said.

The stakes are high. Boardman is Oregon’s largest generator of greenhouse gas emissions and haze- and smog-causing pollution that hampers visibility from Mount Hood to the Columbia River Gorge to Hells Canyon. The plant also supplies roughly 15 percent of PGE’s generation, and regional Northwest power dynamics influence prices alongside relatively cheap coal, helping keep electric bills down.

The lawsuit from the Sierra Club, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and three other environmental groups alleges that PGE, similar to dirty claims contested elsewhere in the industry, should have installed a full suite of pollution controls years ago, including a $300 million scrubber that would knock down sulfur dioxide emissions by at least 80 percent.

Earlier this month, the EPA backed up that assertion, issuing a notice of violation that accused PGE of operating the plant without adequate controls since 1998.

Attorney Aubrey Baldwin, who represents the environmental groups, said the notion of PGE pulling the 2040 option off the table is “kind of a myth” given the off-ramps in PGE’s new proposal. The Sierra Club wants PGE to close the plant earlier than 2020, perhaps as early as 2015.

“Ultimately, PGE is going to have to comply, whether that’s through a compromise or actual compliance with the Clean Air Act regulations as they’re written,” Baldwin said. Closing in 2020 “is not going to get them there.”

The Oregon Environmental Council signed on to PGE’s latest proposal but was careful to say it wasn’t ruling out a closure earlier than 2020.

Jana Gastellum, OEC’s global warming program director, said the council thinks PGE’s removal of the 2040 option and its commitment to explore renewable alternatives is significant.

Given population growth, replacing Boardman solely with natural gas plants would still increase the state’s greenhouse gas emissions over time, she said.

PGE’s previous “low-carbon” alternative focused on politically untenable nuclear power. Other options include biomass, more efficient use of natural gas and wind power, and increased conservation, including more energy-efficiency upgrades in homes, industries and commercial buildings.

“If we just keep slapping up natural gas plants as a replacement and don’t maximize energy efficiency and renewables, over time we’ll get growth in emissions,” Gastellum said. “We’ve gotten climate change inserted into the conversation.”

Three other groups endorsed PGE’s latest plan: the Citizens’ Utility Board, Renewable Northwest Project and the Northwest Energy Coalition. Angus Duncan, founder and president of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, also endorsed it.

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