Will Oregon consumers pay for clean energy?
Seventy-one percent of Oregon voters support moving the state away from coal power and into renewable energy over the next decade, a new Sierra Club poll shows.
Support dropped to 58 percent when voters learned it would increase their utility bills.
Still, say backers of legislation to require the shift, the results show strong bipartisan backing.
"The majority of voters are willing to make that tradeoff," said Jenny Leland, senior research associate at Seattle-based Strategies 360, which conducted the poll.
Oregon's electricity mix currently includes about 35 percent coal, mostly from out-of-state, and less than 9 percent renewable energy.
The legislation would require Oregon's largest utilities – Pacific Power and Portland General Electric – to stop using coal as a power source by 2025.
Electric utilities would have to replace coal with an energy mix that is at least 90 percent cleaner than coal, including renewable sources such as wind and solar.
And if it could be done at no extra cost, they would need to use local clean energy sources, creating jobs.
"I think it's exceptionally important for us to support the development of clean energy in Oregon," said state Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, one of the sponsors of the legislation.
The legislation has the potential to create between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs, said Ted Eckmann, a professor of environmental studies at University of Portland.
"Without action, Oregonians are going to continue to help pay for hundreds of million dollar upgrades to each aging coal plant that has not installed necessary pollution controls," said Amy Hojnowski, of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "Voters would rather put their money toward new clean energy that helps to provide local jobs."
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