FILE - This May 6, 2013 file photo shows a wind turbine farm owned by PacifiCorp near Glenrock, Wyo. PacifiCorp owns Oregon's second-largest electric company and was offered up to $3.52 billion on Thursday to finance construction of 700 miles of transmission lines in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and California. Oregon's power grid needs upgrades to handle the added load of wind and other renewables.
Matt Young / AP
PacifiCorp was offered up to $3.52 billion on Thursday to finance construction of 700 miles of transmission lines in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and California. PacifiCorp owns Pacific Power – Oregon’s second-largest electric company.
It’s one of eight loans totaling almost $23 billion offered by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Biden administration’s push to reshape the country’s power grids.
Related: Why transforming the grid is critical to Oregon’s clean-energy future
The loan offers come at a time when power grids across the country face growing strain. Investment in renewable energy sources has been outpacing the Pacific Northwest’s ability to keep up with new transmission line construction. Utilities are also under growing scrutiny for power failures linked to downed lines.
PacifiCorp spokesperson Simon Gutierrez said there’s not much the company can share about its offer yet – or where it will spend if it agrees to accept the loan.
“PacifiCorp is continuing to work with the DOE on loan guarantee conditions and has not made definitive decisions on what loan amounts it will utilize or which projects the loans will be used towards the conditional guarantee,” Gutierrez said in an email.
The Energy Department says the low-interest loan could save the utility’s customers a billion dollars on their rates – and could make the grid more reliable while supporting new transmission.
Pacific Power has raised rates in recent years, including a 9.8% residential rate hike this month. Customers are paying more, in part, to cover the cost of infrastructure investments. But liability related to wildfires sparked by the company’s power lines has been a bigger expense.
The New York Times reported that the loan guarantee offers amount to one of the biggest commitments ever made by the Energy Department’s loan program office, which was given $250 billion in loan authority through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
If utilities agree to the financing offers, they could result in transmission upgrades across 12 states, allowing power companies to tap into significantly more wind and solar power.
The announcement, made in the final days of the Biden administration, came amidst a flurry of federal action ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to oppose renewable energy projects and boost U.S. investment in fossil fuels.
Energy Department officials told the New York Times that the conditional loan commitments the agency announced Thursday can’t easily be canceled by the incoming president.