PGE received the national solar award in partnership with U.S. Bank, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and ProLogis, for being the first utility in the nation to develop a unique third-party ownership model to help develop large-scale solar projects in its service area.

The unique model allows PGE and its customers to overcome project-funding constraints and capture the value of tax benefits that neither customers nor PGE could otherwise use.

The utility solar business model pioneered by PGE uses the 50 percent Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit, the 30 percent Federal Investment Tax Credit, accelerated depreciation, and utility incentives to finance solar projects.

"Portland General Electric has developed an innovative utility solar partnership program that has worked through the challenges inherent in project financing and siting, while leveraging the business needs of the utility and the interests of customers," said Julia Hamm, SEPA executive director.

"We want to thank our customers and partners who have worked to make these important solar projects possible," said Carol Dillin, vice president of customers and economic development, PGE. "Our solar business model is part of our strategy to work together with our customers to help reach the state's renewable energy standard of 25 percent renewable energy by 2025."

The two projects recognized in the 2009 partnership award are the Oregon Solar Highway, the nation's first solar highway project, located at the I-5/I-205 interchange in Tualatin, Ore., and the ProLogis rooftop project, the Northwest's largest rooftop installation, located in Portland.

The Oregon Solar Highway demonstration project, a collaborative effort of PGE, U.S. Bank, and ODOT, began supplying renewable power in December 2008 to help light the way for drivers at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin, Ore. The 104-kilowatt photovoltaic system covers about 8,000 square feet ” roughly the length of two football fields ” and produces about 112,000 kilowatt hours a year, or 28 percent of the 400,000 kilowatt hours used to light the interchange.

The 1.1-megawatt rooftop ProLogis solar project, a collaborative effort of PGE, U.S. Bank and ProLogis that is the largest rooftop project in the Pacific Northwest, began generating solar power in December 2008. The project, which uses "thin-film" solar panels, is installed on the rooftops of three ProLogis distribution warehouses in northeast Portland and covers more than 328,000 square feet.

Earlier this year, SEPA recognized PGE as a national utility leader in the integration of solar into its generation portfolio in 2008. PGE ranked eighth in the nation -- and fourth in the West -- in total solar generation installed.

Currently, PGE has 7.4 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity interconnected in PGE's operating area with almost 500 solar "net metering" customers (customers who generate their own electricity), which is enough to power more than 685 homes and offset more than 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

About Portland General Electric Company: Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a vertically integrated electric utility that serves approximately 814,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon. Visit our Web site at www.PortlandGeneral.com.

About the Solar Electric Power Association: SEPA is comprised of more than 550 utilities and solar industry members. From national events to one-on-one counseling, SEPA is the go-to resource for unbiased and actionable solar intelligence. Breaking down information overload into business reality, SEPA takes the time and risk out of implementing solar business plans and helps turn new technologies into new opportunities.

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