In its first ten months serving PGE customers, the Clearwater Wind Energy Center contributed to new records for PGE wind generation, including helping the company produce one gigawatt of power from wind sources alone – a new milestone. One gigawatt (or 1,000 megawatts) is enough electricity to power the equivalent of 830,000 homes, or about half the number of homes in Oregon.
The Clearwater Wind Energy Center, located in Rosebud, Custer, and Garfield counties in Eastern Montana, was developed in four phases by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which operates and owns part of the facility. PGE owns 208 megawatts of the center and purchases an additional 103 megawatts through a Power Purchase Agreement, supplying customers a total of 311 megawatts.
The portions of the facility serving PGE customers achieved commercial operations by January 2024 and take advantage of consistent winds from the vast plains of the Treasure State. Alongside other renewable energy projects in the Pacific Northwest, the Clearwater Wind Energy Center adds diversity and consistency to PGE's energy portfolio, allowing the company to source power for customers when it's available from a variety of resource types and locations.
With Montana's abundant and consistent wind, the Clearwater Wind Energy Center delivers high levels of production during the winter and summer, allowing PGE to serve Oregon customers additional reliable clean energy during periods of high demand. In January 2024, PGE's owned and contracted wind facilities produced a maximum output of more than one gigawatt of wind power for the first time, thanks in large part to the addition of the Clearwater Wind Energy Center. This milestone was achieved again on another 25 days throughout 2024, including on February 26, when PGE reached its all-time record for maximum wind generation at 1,056 megawatts. In addition to the Clearwater Wind Energy Center, which consistently contributes about 34% of PGE's daily wind generation, PGE also operates wind facilities in the Columbia River Gorge.
The Clearwater Wind Energy Center was selected through PGE's 2021 Request for Proposal, a competitive bidding process through which the company solicits proposals for electricity generation facilities that bring value to customers.
"In just a few short years, we were able to take the Clearwater Wind Energy Center from a proposal on paper to the efficient, productive facility it is today," said Maria Pope, PGE President and CEO, at an event in September celebrating the commissioning of the facility. "This plant is an example of how working together, we can act quickly to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the energy industry."
The emissions-free power generated at the facility is delivered to PGE customers through existing transmission lines on Northwestern and Bonneville Power Administration's system, as well as an approximately 100-mile generation-tie line connecting to the Colstrip substation. The wind center's addition to PGE's generation portfolio also reduces the need to purchase potentially costly or greenhouse gas-emitting resources from the open energy market, and takes advantage of federal Production Tax Credits available to renewable energy projects.
"The Clearwater Wind Energy Center is an important component of the future of the Western clean energy landscape," said Maria Pope. "Sourcing energy from diverse geographies improves reliability at lower costs for customers."
During each phase of construction, the Clearwater Wind Energy Center created up to 350 jobs and continues to employ operations workers onsite, while generating revenue for the local community. Wind power continues to be an important piece of PGE's portfolio as the company works to decarbonize while providing reliable, affordable electricity to customers.
