Avangrid and Portland General Electric Collaborate with QTS and Meta to Build 120 MWac Solar Project in Oregon

Business Wire 2-Dec-2024 2:05 PM

Developed by Avangrid and now under construction, the Tower Solar project will deliver energy to Portland General Electric's Green Future Impact program, creating over 200 jobs and local economic benefits to Morrow County

Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, and Portland General Electric (PGE) (NYSE:POR), are announcing the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for Tower Solar, a new 120 MWac (166 MWdc) solar energy project now under construction in Morrow County, Oregon, in collaboration with QTS and Meta. The facility will deliver clean, renewable energy to Portland General Electric's grid through Green Future Impact (GFI), a voluntary program designed to help large commercial, industrial, and municipal customers meet their ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction goals through the development of new clean energy facilities in our region.

Subscribers to PGE's GFI program enroll in a bundled renewable energy product and receive the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) associated with the energy generated from the new facility. PGE's subscription pricing is designed to avoid cost shifting to non-participating customers.

Under PGE's GFI program, QTS, a leading data center solutions provider, is developing a data center campus to support Meta's operations in the region that will be supported by renewable energy from Tower Solar, helping to meet Meta's sustainability and 100% renewable energy goals.

"We are pleased to work closely with some of our largest customers to develop another utility-scale solar project in Oregon, the home-base for Avangrid's onshore renewable energy business," said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. "Projects like this are important to furthering the country's energy independence, and represent our continued investment in the region with new jobs and tax revenue."

"The Green Future Impact program allows PGE to partner with our largest customers like QTS to meet their ambitious sustainability goals through local clean energy," said Brett Greene, PGE Senior Director Clean Energy Origination and Structuring. "Through GFI, our largest customers can fund the development of the renewable resources they need, while supporting green jobs and revenue for Oregon communities."

"This innovative project highlights QTS's commitment to procuring sustainable energy solutions that help alleviate data center power generation needs and support our customers' goals," said Tag Greason, QTS Chief Growth Officer. "We are pleased to partner with Avangrid and PGE to bolster these sustainability initiatives."

Tower Solar will be located just west of Boardman and located on about 900 acres of industrially zoned land owned by the Port of Morrow near the Boardman Airport. The project will utilize more than 200,000 solar panels.

At the peak of construction, Avangrid expects Tower Solar to create more than 200 jobs, the vast majority of which will be sourced from the region. Tower Solar is expected to pay about $20 million in combined PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) and property taxes which will support a variety of public services, including education.

Avangrid is the leading supplier of renewable energy to PGE's Green Future Impact program, including from Pachwáywit Fields, Oregon's largest operating solar facility, and the Daybreak, and Bakeoven solar farms which are currently under construction. Together with Tower Solar, the current combined capacity of the Green Future Impact program facilities will be 482 MWac

Tower Solar will become Avangrid's sixth solar facility in Oregon once construction is complete in 2026, and its 17th Oregon power generation project overall. Avangrid currently operates 1.6 GW of wind and solar projects in the state.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $47 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America's best corporate citizens – in 2024 for the fourth consecutive year. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World's Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.

About Portland General Electric: Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) is an integrated energy company that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to over 930,000 customers serving an area of 1.9 million Oregonians. For more than 130 years, Portland General Electric (PGE) has powered social progress delivering safe, affordable, reliable and increasingly clean electricity while working to transform energy systems to meet evolving customer needs. PGE has the largest voluntary renewable energy program in the country and was ranked the No. 1 utility in the 2024 Forrester U.S. Customer Experience Index. PGE is committed to reducing emissions from its retail power supply by 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. PGE is recognized by the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the company's commitment to creating a more equal, inclusive workplace. In 2023, PGE employees, retirees and the PGE Foundation donated nearly $4.6 million and volunteered over 23,000 volunteer hours to more than 400 nonprofit organizations. For more information: portlandgeneral.com/news

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