The grid is the ‘superhighway’ on which electricity travels. It is a vast network of transmission lines and infrastructure that delivers the electricity we need to power our daily lives (i.e., our homes, businesses, and industrial sites). The grid is crucial for maintaining reliable and affordable power for Oregonians. Importantly, the grid must also evolve to accommodate our state’s clean energy transition and to serve our growing population and economy. Two recently passed pieces of legislation will help modernize the grid, relieving congestion and streamlining permitting of new transmission lines.

Oregon’s Grid Faces Significant Challenges

Oregon’s electricity grid has not been meaningfully upgraded since the 1970s. Understandably, anything without consistent care over the span of 40 years is likely to have some serious breakdowns. The grid has seen limitations with capacity, resulting in bottlenecks (meaning difficulty in delivering electricity from point A to point B). Hundreds of solar and wind facilities are waiting in line to interconnect. Load growth, or future expected demand for electricity, is higher than ever in the PNW. This is driven mostly by new data centers, which can use the equivalent power of hundreds of thousands of households. Data center load growth will put significant pressure on the grid, potentially creating deeper reliability issues.

A Healthy Grid Means Healthy Communities and savings for all

Investing in our grid now means immediate benefits on a grand scale. We alleviate any potential for direct harm to our communities from rolling blackouts, heightened risk for wildfires, and economic setbacks. We can even measure this benefit to the dollar via a recent report that discovered customers will receive up to $4.70 in benefits for every $1 invested in transmission. If we choose to pay a little more to modernize our grid now, communities will reap the benefits for generations to come. We need to act now.

Thankfully, the Legislature passed two bills in the 2025 Oregon session that will help: HB 3336 and HB 3681. HB 3336 requires Investor-Owned Utilities to evaluate and deploy Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs), a group of hardware and software solutions that expand the capacity and efficiency of the grid. GETs are often faster and cheaper to deploy than other transmission infrastructure and carry a wide range of benefits. Next, HB 3681 reduces the timeline for appeals of transmission line approvals, removes bureaucratic red tape for minor changes to transmission projects, and generally streamlines permitting while maintaining protections for the environment and communities.

These pieces of legislation will be implemented through guidance and rulemaking and will begin to modernize our grid in the coming year and beyond. These policies represent commonsense steps to improve efficiency and bolster capacity on our grid. Now we must build on this momentum. To solidify this progress, we know Oregon will need additional policies to plan, finance, and build the infrastructure needed to meet growing energy demand and connect new clean energy projects. As usual, you can trust that Climate Solutions will continue to work toward solutions with our partners and coalitions to secure the policy wins Oregonians need now, tomorrow, and beyond.