Oregon abandons plans for gas-fired power plant in Umatilla County

HERMISTON Ore. (KPTV) – The State of Oregon has terminated plans to allow a gas-fired power plant near the Columbia River, officials announced Tuesday.

The 415-megawatt fracked gas power plant was being planned by Perennial Power Holdings Inc. in western Umatilla County. Over a 30-year span, the plant would have contributed 30 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution to the environment, according to the organization Columbia Riverkeepers.

“This is a huge win for Oregonians and the climate,” said Lauren Goldberg, executive director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “Perennial would have locked the state into at least thirty years of additional climate-destroying pollution. The message is clear: our future is in clean energy, not dirty fossil fuels.”

The Perennial project is the last of pending proposals for new gas-fired power plants in Oregon to be abandoned over the past seven years. Previous projects abandoned include the Troutdale Energy Center and South Dunes Power Plant in 2016, PGE’s Carty Units 2 and 3 in 2018, and now Perennial.

No proposals for new gas-fired power plants remain pending with the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council.