PacifiCorp

History

Pacific Power & Light was formed in 1910 from the merger of several financially troubled utilities in Oregon and Washington to form the Pacific Power & Light Company. It gradually expanded its reach to include most of Oregon, as well as portions of California, Washington and Wyoming. In 1984, it reorganized itself as a holding company, PacifiCorp, headquartered in Portland with Pacific Power as its main subsidiary.

Utah Power and Light (UP&L) was organized on 6 September 1912 from the merger of four electric companies in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and was a Salt Lake City subsidiary of a large holding company, Electric Bond and Share Company (EBASCO) of New York. Within four years of its organization, UP&L had purchased twenty-seven other electric companies in the general Utah area, and eventually absorbed more than one hundred thirty. In 1881, one of those companies had made Salt Lake City the fifth city in the world with central station electricity.

In 1954, Pacific Power & Light merged with the Mountain States Power Company, essentially doubling the company's service area. In 1961, the company purchased the California Oregon Power Company, extending its service into southern Oregon and northern California.

In 1977, PacifiCorp spun off its coal mining interests into a mining company known as NERCO, which was eventually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ranked as high as 353 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest American companies. Through its majority interest in NERCO, PacifiCorp was involved in the mining of coal, oil, natural gas, gold, silver, and uranium. PacifiCorp still owned 82% of NERCO in 1993, when it was acquired by the mining giant Rio Tinto Group.

In August 1987, PacifiCorp agreed to acquire Utah Power & Light. The merger was completed in January 1989.

In 2001, PacifiCorp was acquired by Scottish Power.

In 2006, PacifiCorp was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a division of Berkshire Hathaway, for $5.1 billion in cash.

In a July 2006 reorganization, Pacific Power's territory in central and eastern Wyoming was merged with the Utah Power territory to form Rocky Mountain Power.{{Cite news | url=https://www.pinedaleonline.com/news/2006/07/PacificPowerbecomesR.htm | title= Pacific Power becomes Rocky Mountain Power | work=Pinedale, Wyoming | date=July 12, 2006}}

Generation resources

In these tables of generation properties owned or partially owned by PacifiCorp, total capacity is 10,556MW. Of this, 56% is coal, 24% is natural gas, 10% is hydroelectric, and 10% is renewable.

Major generation facilities include:

Thermal generation (Fossil fueled)

Hydroelectric generation

Renewable generation

Coal mining

PacifiCorp also owns and operates several captive coal mines located at or very near some of its generation plants. In Wyoming, PacifiCorp operates and has partial interest in Jim Bridger Mine and owns the Dave Johnston Mine, which is in final reclamation. The company also owned and operated the Deer Creek Mine in Utah, near the Huntington Plant but closed it in 2015 and has a partial interest in the Trapper Mine in Colorado.

Electric vehicles

Calling it a "new era of utility involvement in transportation electrification," the Portland Business Journal in 2018 described PacifiCorp's electric vehicle promotion program as a plan that promises new electric vehicle charging sites, outreach and education efforts. The program was spawn from legislation passed in 2016 that called for more renewable energy from the state's utility companies.

Customers

As of May 1, 2007, Rocky Mountain Power serves approximately 758,000 customers in Utah, 129,000 customers in Idaho, and 67,000 customers in Wyoming.

Net metering

In November 2017, Rocky Mountain Power made a deal with Utah's utility authorities to phase out net metering. The program was paying customers who generated their own electricity with rooftop solar panels the residential rate for their excess energy that got sent back into the energy grid. As of August 2018, new rooftop solar installations were down 23 percent, likely due to the cancellation of the net metering program. New solar customers are paid by a transitional program that pays slightly less than the residential rate until 2033. People who installed solar panels prior to November 2017 are grandfathered at the previous rates until 2035.

Pacific Power

Pacific Power serves customers in Washington, Oregon and California. Major cities served include:

• California
  • Crescent City
  • Dunsmuir
  • Mount Shasta
  • Yreka
• Oregon
  • Albany
  • Astoria
  • Bend
  • Coos Bay
  • Corvallis
  • Dallas
  • Grants Pass
  • Hermiston
  • Hood River
  • Independence
  • Junction City
  • Klamath Falls
  • Lebanon
  • Lincoln City
  • Medford
  • North Bend
  • Pendleton
  • Portland (parts of downtown, northern and eastern Portland; the rest of city is served by Portland General Electric.)
  • Prineville
  • Redmond
  • Roseburg
  • Stayton
  • Sweet Home
• Washington
  • Walla Walla
  • Yakima

As of December 31, 2009, Pacific Power serves 555,070 customers in Oregon, 126,665 customers in Washington, and 45,148 customers in California.

Rocky Mountain Power

Rocky Mountain Power serves customers in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

Major cities served include:

Idaho

Ammon, Lava Hot Springs, Malad City, Montpelier, Preston, Rigby, Rexburg, Saint Anthony, Shelley

Utah

Rocky Mountain Power serves most major cities in Utah, with the following exceptions:

Bountiful, Kaysville, Lehi, Logan, Provo, Murray, Monroe, Monticello, Springville, St. George

Wyoming

Buffalo, Casper, Cody, Douglas, Evanston, Green River, Kemmerer, Lander, Laramie, Rawlins, Riverton, Rock Springs, Thermopolis

Legal issues

In 2023, a jury ordered PacifiCorp to pay $70 million in punitive damages to 17 homeowners negatively impacted by the 2020 Oregon wildfires. In August 2024, PacifiCorp revealed that it faced at least $46 billion in claims resulting from four separate class action complaints related to the wildfires.

References

References

1. "PacifiCorp". [[Berkshire Hathaway Energy]].
2. Culverwell, Wendy. (August 24, 2007). "Fresh off some big moves, Integra signs large lease". [[American City Business Journals]].
3. "California ISO - EIMRedirect".
4. "2023 Integrated Resource Plan". PacifiCorp.
5. "PacifiCorp". [[Encyclopedia.com]].
6. "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions".
7. "Rio Tinto timeline".
8. Stevenson, Richard W.. (14 August 1987). "Pacificorp, Utah Power To Merge". [[The New York Times]].
9. GILLINS, PETER. (January 9, 1989). "PacifiCorp merges with Utah Power". [[United Press International]].
10. (December 7, 1998). "Scottish Power Agrees to Buy PacifiCorp In a Stock Deal Valued at $7.8 Billion". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
11. (May 24, 2005). "Buffett buys PacifiCorp for $5.1 billion cash". [[NBC News]].
12. Wallace, Brice. (July 12, 2006). "Bye to Utah Power: On Monday, utility's name will become Rocky Mountain Power". [[Deseret News]].
13. Pete Danko. (6 March 2018). "PacifiCorp OK'd to build EV charging stations as part of $4.6M transportation plan". Portland Business Journal.
14. "The number of Utahns installing solar power has dropped 23 percent since utility changed the way customers are paid". The Salt Lake Tribune.
15. "Pacific Power Quick Facts".
16. (June 14, 2023). "Oregon jury: PacifiCorp must pay punitive damages for fires, plus award that could reach billions". [[Associated Press]].
17. Hering, Garrett. (August 5, 2024). "Wildfire claims against PacifiCorp surge to $46B on Oregon mass complaints". [[S&P Global]].