Boardman Coal Plant
{{Short description|Coal-fired power plant located in Boardman, Oregon}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
File:Boardman_Oregon_coal_plant_at_Carty_Reservoir.jpg
File:Boardman Coal Grinders.JPG
The Boardman Coal Plant was a coal-fired power plant located in Boardman, Oregon. The facility had a nameplate capacity of 550 megawatts (MWs) and is owned by Portland General Electric.{{cite web|url=http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/SITING/BCP.shtml|title=Energy Facility Siting - Boardman Coal Plant|author=Oregon Energy Facilities Siting Council|publisher=Oregon Department of Energy|date=2008-05-17|accessdate=2010-02-24|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606174545/http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/SITING/BCP.shtml|archivedate=2010-06-06}} In 2010, the plant was the only remaining coal powered plant in Oregon and received much attention from regional media due to its being the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state with environmental groups such as the Sierra Club calling for its closing.{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/pressure_grows_for_pge_to_shut.html|title=Pressure grows for PGE to shutter Boardman coal plant|author=Sickinger, Ted|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2009-09-25|accessdate=2009-12-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/coal-burning_power_plant_in_bo.html|title=Boardman coal-burning power plant may have a future after all: biomass|author=Preusch, Matthew|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2010-01-31|accessdate=2010-07-29}}
In 2014, PGE built a new $500 million, 450 MW combined cycle natural gas power plant, named Carty Generating Station, next to the coal plant.{{ r | OL_1 }} {{ cite news | url=https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/state/article49923970.html | title=Construction halts on PGE project near Boardman | last=Plaven | first=George | newspaper=Tri-City Herald | date=2015-12-15 | quote=Construction has come to a halt at Portland General Electric’s Carty Generating Station near Boardman as the project contractor teeters on the brink of bankruptcy. Workers were turned away Monday at the Carty site next to the Boardman Coal Plant on Tower Road, leaving the 440-megwatt natural gas-fired power plant in a temporary state of limbo. ... The plant could cost up to $514 million when all is said and done. }} {{ cite web | url=https://www.oregon.gov/energy/facilities-safety/facilities/Pages/CGS.aspx | title=Carty Generating Station | last= | first= | work=Oregon Department of Energy | date= | access-date=2021-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211223119/http://www.oregon.gov:80/energy/facilities-safety/facilities/Pages/CGS.aspx |archive-date=2017-02-11 | url-status=live | pages= | quote=The Carty Generating Station is a 450 megawatt, combined-cycle natural gas-fueled electric generating power plant, and includes a not-yet-constructed 50 megawatt solar PV electric power generating unit on 315 acres (0.49 sq. miles). The facility is located within an overall site boundary of approximately 4,997 acres. }}
In October 2020, Portland General Electric announced that the coal plant has been permanently closed and was demolished in 2022, ending Oregon's legacy of coal-fired power generation.{{cite web|url=https://www.portlandgeneral.com/our-company/news-room/news-releases/2020/10-15-2020-portland-general-electric-announces-end-to-coal-fired-power-generati|title=Portland General Electric announces end to coal-fired power generation in Oregon|date=2020-10-15|accessdate=2020-10-16}}{{cite news |last1=Banse |first1=Tom |title=Boardman smokestack demolished, marking the end of a coal-fired era in Oregon |url=https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/15/boardman-oregon-coal-smoke-stack-portland-general-electric/ |access-date=17 September 2022 |work=Oregon Public Broadcasting |date=15 September 2022 |language=en}}
Background
The Boardman plant was authorized in 1975, just two years before the 1977 Clean Air Act amendments, which would have required the plant to meet stricter emission standards.{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/08/post_1.html|title=Proposal would cut Oregon coal plant's haze-causing pollution|author=Learn, Scott|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2008-08-14|accessdate=2009-12-12}} When it was operating, the plant accounted for 65% of stationary SO2 emissions, and 7% of CO2 emissions in Oregon.{{cite web|url=http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Breakdown_of_PGE_Boardman_Pollution.doc|title=Environmental and Health Effects Caused by PGE Boardman Pollution|author=Staff|publisher=Lewis & Clark Law School|date=2006-06-28|accessdate=2010-02-16}}{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandgeneral.com/community_environment/initiatives/docs/Boardman_IP.pdf|title=PGE Seeks to Eliminate Coal at Boardman|author=Staff|publisher=Portland General Electric|date=June 2010|accessdate=2010-07-29|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128220220/http://portlandgeneral.com/community_environment/initiatives/docs/Boardman_IP.pdf|archivedate=2010-11-28}}
The Boardman plant was one of PGE's largest power stations, producing 15% of the utility's electricity in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://news.opb.org/article/4147-pge-considering-fate-boardman-coal-fired-plant/
|title=PGE Considering Fate Of Boardman Coal-Fired Plant|author=Manning, Rob|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|date=2009-01-29|accessdate=2010-07-29}}
Recent action
Portland General Electric's original plan involved operating the plant until 2040; this would require installing over $500 million of pollution control equipment on the plant by 2017 in order to comply with federal and state clean air standards. In early 2010, however, PGE announced that they were considering an alternative plan for the Boardman plant that would close it in 2020.{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2009/10/pges_boardman_plant_bad_air_wo.html|title=PGE's Boardman plant: Bad air, worse energy policy|author=Duin, Steve|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2009-10-03|accessdate=2010-02-15}}{{cite web|url=http://news.opb.org/article/6558-pge-close-boardman-plant-2020/|title=PGE To Close Boardman Plant By 2020|author=Baer, April|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|date=2010-01-15|accessdate=2010-02-15}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/pge_moves_to_close_boardman_co.html|title=PGE plan suggests shorter time frame to close Boardman coal-fired power plant|author=Sickinger, Ted|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2010-01-14|accessdate=2010-02-16}}
In April 2010, PGE decided to close the plant in 2020 to save $470 million in upgrades they would have been required to install had they kept the plant operating until 2040.{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/04/pge_files_to_close_boardman_co.html|title=PGE files to close Boardman coal plant early, rekindles concerns|author=Learn, Scott|publisher=The Oregonian|date=2010-04-02|accessdate=2010-04-03}} The decision is contingent upon favorable decisions in a lawsuit and possible federal regulations. In December 2010, the state's environmental protection agency approved the plans for the 2020 closing.{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/12/pges_coal-fired_boardman_plant.html|title=PGE's coal-fired Boardman plant gets approval to close in 2020, with fewer pollution controls|last=Learn|first=Scott|date=December 9, 2010|work=The Oregonian|accessdate=11 December 2010}}
PGE started building a second gas-fired generating station at Boardman (the Carty Generating Plant) in 2014.{{cite news|title=PGE building Boardman natural-gas fired power plant | url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/06/pge_building_boardman_natural-.html#incart_river_default | accessdate=9 June 2014|work=The Oregonian|agency=The Associated Press|date=June 8, 2014 | quote=Portland General Electric has started building a natural gas-fired power plant in Boardman. The plant is next to a coal-fired power plant that is slated to close or be converted to a different fuel source by 2020. }}
The plant was being dismantled in 2021, with the structure being demolished in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Workers reflect on Oregon’s first and last coal plant |author= |work=High Country News |date=21 January 2021 |access-date=14 June 2021 |url= https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.2/north-coal-workers-reflect-on-oregons-first-and-last-coal-plant-photos}}
See also
References
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Category:Coal-fired power stations in Oregon
Category:Buildings and structures in Morrow County, Oregon
Category:Portland General Electric
Category:1977 establishments in Oregon