BEND, Ore. — The power company PacifiCorp is asking Oregon to change green power rules to reduce contract lengths and lower the amount of renewable power it is required to accept.
The company has asked the Oregon Public Utility Commission to lower contract terms for qualified renewable power generators from 15 years to three. It also has requested to lower the limit on renewable power projects that the utility must connect to its system from 10 megawatts to 100 kilowatts.
Critics of the request say it will stifle growth of renewable energy sources by making them difficult to finance. PacifiCorp officials argue that the fixed-price, long-term contracts don’t work with the short-term nature of the energy market.
