PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon legislature passed two bills this session aiming to strengthen the electric grid amid an “alarming” shortage of electrical transmission capacity across the state, state Rep. Mark Gamba (D-Milwaukie and Portland) announced Wednesday.
The bills include House Bill 3336, which focuses on grid-enhancing technologies, or a group of hardware or software tools that can be installed on an existing transmission line to increase efficiency and capacity. During a May Senate hearing in the Committee on Energy and Environment, Gamba described GETs as “low hanging fruit” because the tech costs less to install compared to new transmission lines and will improve Oregon’s grid as the state works to build more.
Gamba explained that the legislation will also resolve a backlog in energy projects coming online because of a lack of transmission lines. According to Gamba, Oregon has one of the longest backlogs of these projects waiting to connect to the grid in the United States.
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“I first became interested in this topic about two years ago after reading studies raising alarm bells that our electrical grid could not support coming energy growth,” said Gamba, who served as chief sponsor of the energy bills. “This is an important topic to me because not only do we need to keep the lights on, but we need to do so with renewable energy. Without additional transmission capacity, we will not be able to bring the renewable energy projects online that are needed to meet the state’s climate goals.”
The second bill, HB 3681, streamlines permitting for renewable energy and transmission projects at the Oregon Department of Energy and the Oregon Public Utility Commission.
“This deficit in our grid will affect everyone from utility ratepayers, to small businesses, to large energy users including our high tech manufacturing and data centers,” Gamba added, “With the expected load growth, we do not have time for transmission lines to take 20 years to be built, or for shovel ready renewable energy projects to sit in a queue while they wait for transmission capacity.”
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The bill comes after a May 2024 report from the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee found electricity demand in the Pacific Northwest is growing at its fastest pace in decades, with energy demand anticipated to grow by 30% in the next 10 years.
According to the report, the increase in demand is due to factors such as data center expansion, growth in high-tech manufacturing and a trend towards electrification.
HB 3681 has been signed into law and HB 3336 is headed to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s desk for signature.
