News Release Details

Oregon Public Utility Commission to make selection

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) today issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking an independent evaluator (IE) to help the company conduct multiple bidding processes in 2011 for new electric generation supplies. Oregon Public Utility Commission competitive bidding guidelines specify standards to assure that bidding is conducted fairly and properly and that bids received are evaluated consistently. These guidelines include use of an independent evaluator to serve as an impartial third party in the bidding process.

"Our customers need to be confident that the resources we bring online to serve them are selected through a fair and balanced process that results in cost-effective decisions," said Jim Lobdell, PGE's vice president for power operations and resource strategy. "We view the independent evaluator as an important partner in that process — for both PGE and the OPUC."

Qualified IEs must submit their proposals to PGE by February 8, 2011. The IE will ultimately be selected by the OPUC and report to the commission with his or her findings. Required qualifications, proposal requirements, scoring criteria, and submittal procedures are available online at www.PortlandGeneral.com/IRP.

The OPUC acknowledged PGE's most recent integrated resource plan in November 2010, finding that the plan described an appropriate strategy to meet PGE's expected electric power needs with the best balance of cost and risk to customers. To begin implementing that plan, PGE will conduct up to three competitive bidding processes this year to acquire:

• Approximately 200 megawatts of year-round flexible and peaking resources, to help supply customers with electricity during peak demand periods and to help integrate increasing system levels of variable energy resources such as wind and solar power. The RFP also seeks two seasonal peaking resources: Approximately 200 megawatts of bi-seasonal (winter and summer) peaking supply and approximately 150 megawatts of winter-only peaking supply. PGE plans to bring these online in or around 2013.
• Approximately 120 average megawatts of new renewable resources to help meet Oregon's renewable energy standard, which requires the utility to use renewable resources to supply 25 percent of the power delivered to customers by 2025. Due to the variable nature of most commercial-scale renewable resources, 120 average megawatts is roughly equivalent to the output of a wind farm with a nameplate capacity between 330 to 400 megawatts, depending on location and wind quality. PGE plans to bring this resource online as needed to meet the 2015 Oregon RPS compliance requirements.
• Approximately 300 to 500 megawatts of baseload, high-efficiency combined-cycle natural gas generating capacity. This will be used to meet increased demand for power and backfill expiring long-term resource contracts, and should be online in the 2015 timeframe.

The company's resource plan also includes approximately 214 megawatts of energy efficiency savings, amounting to nearly half of the company's expected load growth over the next decade.

PGE plans to submit self-build "benchmark" proposals in each resource bidding process. The IE will review and comment on the draft RFPs before they are issued, provide an assessment of the bid scoring (including PGE's benchmark proposals) and short list selection, and issue a closing report with a detailed assessment of the process and its results.

About Portland General Electric Company

Portland General Electric, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a vertically-integrated electric utility that serves more than 822,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon. Visit our Web site at www.PortlandGeneral.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are not guarantees of future events. Rather, they are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs and assumptions and are subject to uncertainties that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual events or results may differ materially from the statements made. Forward-looking statements made in this press release include statements regarding the company's energy strategy for future periods, the effectiveness of energy efficiency initiatives in decreasing energy consumption, the anticipated increase in demand for electricity in the Company's service territory, the implementation and outcome of requests for proposals, and the acquisition of additional capacity to meet such demand. These forward-looking statements are based upon our assumptions about and assessment of the future, which may or may not prove true, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, risk factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company's reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Source: Portland General Electric Company

PGE
Steve Corson, 503-464-8444
www.portlandgeneral.com/newsroom
www.twitter.com/pgemedia

Source: Portland General Electric

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