US utility Portland General Electric (PGE) has reported a significant increase in industrial demand across Oregon in its Q3 report.
Overall, industrial demand grew by nine percent, much of that within the semiconductor manufacturing and data center sectors.
The growth in industrial load is more significant than that in Q2, where there was an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2023.
“50 percent of our industrial customer base is semiconductor manufacturing, 20 percent is data centers, and 30 percent is other manufacturing. Overall, that industrial segment is growing the fastest,” said Maria Pope, president and chief executive officer at PGE.
PGE has announced plans to add 500MW more renewable hydro capacity and integrate solar and battery projects to meet this demand.
“Much of our customer base is focused on clean energy, and we have been a leader when it comes to delivering clean energy and options for those customers, particularly those who want to move faster towards 100 percent clean energy,” said Pope.
PGE also reported that it plans to file its next Integrated Resource Planning report in Q1 of 2025, providing a clearer picture of when it expects to bring its new assets into operation.
“Considering our needs on the system, both from a renewable energy as well as capacity [perspective], we would expect whatever the next RFP is to have assets delivered by 2028 or around that period,” said Joe Trpik, CFO at PGE.
PGE serves two-thirds of Oregon’s commercial and industrial activity. The Oregon market has seen a significant increase in data center capacity over recent years. Oregon’s data center market is the fifth largest in the nation, with Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and X all having facilities in the state.
As a result, PGE increased its forecast for regional power demand in July due to rapid industrial growth and the growing demand for data centers. The utility predicts that the electricity demand in the Portland area will be at least 13 percent higher in 2030 than projected last spring.
To meet this demand, PGE has invested heavily in the renewable sector, planning to hold at least one more procurement round to acquire supply that will come online by 2030. However, despite this, the utility acknowledged that the new capacity would not be enough to fulfill its state-mandated 2030 emission reduction target.
