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OR — Power Infrastructure Updated January 2026

Oregon

WECC Natural Gas Solar Wind Storage Data Center PPAs Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Oregon is building some of the West’s largest solar-battery hybrid projects, concentrated in the Columbia River corridor where transmission access and solar resources intersect. The state’s pipeline includes multiple gigawatt-scale facilities, major wind expansions, and the 300-mile Boardman to Hemingway transmission line that began construction in 2025. Google and Amazon have already locked in wind PPAs to serve data center operations in The Dalles.

Generation Projects

Solar

Oregon’s solar buildout is dominated by massive projects paired with battery storage, mostly in the eastern counties along the Columbia River.

  • Buckley Solar Facility (Sherman County): Clenera’s 1,200 MW solar project with 1,200 MW of battery storage—one of the largest in the West.[1]
  • Deschutes Solar and BESS (Wasco County): BrightNight’s 1,000 MW solar facility with 1,000 MW of battery storage.[1]
  • Yellow Rosebush Energy Center (Wasco/Sherman Counties): Savion’s 800 MW solar project with 800 MW of battery storage.[1]
  • Sunrise Solar and Storage (Morrow County): PacifiCorp’s 800 MW solar facility with 800 MW of battery storage.[1]
  • Carty Generating Station Amendment (Morrow/Gilliam Counties): Expansion of an existing 450 MW natural gas plant to add 185 MW solar and 156 MW of battery storage.[1]

Wind

Wind development remains strong, with major projects in eastern Oregon’s wind corridors.

  • Speedway Energy Facility (Sherman County): Brookfield’s hybrid facility with up to 1,400 MW of combined wind and solar capacity plus 500 MW of battery storage.[1]
  • Saddle Butte Energy Facility (Gilliam County): Brookfield Renewables’ 488 MW wind project.[1]
  • Heppner Wind Project (Morrow County): NextEra Energy Resources’ 190 MW wind facility.[1]

Natural Gas

  • Carty Generating Station (Morrow/Gilliam Counties): Existing 450 MW gas plant undergoing a hybrid conversion to add solar and battery storage.[1]

Transmission and Grid

Oregon is investing heavily in new transmission to move renewable energy from eastern generation zones to western load centers.

  • Boardman to Hemingway (B2H): Approved 500 kV transmission line spanning 300 miles (273 miles in Oregon), with construction starting June 2025.[1]
  • Cascade Renewable Transmission System: Proposed 320 kV DC line running through the Columbia River corridor between The Dalles and Portland, with converter stations at both ends.[1]
  • Umatilla-Morrow County Connect Project: Proposed 230 kV line covering 13-14 miles to link Umatilla Electric Cooperative switchyards.[1]
  • BPA Evolving Grid Projects: Bonneville Power Administration’s regional upgrade program includes substation and line rebuilds across the Pacific Northwest, notably West of Boardman and Big Eddy facilities.[1]

Battery Storage

Oregon’s storage pipeline includes both lithium-ion batteries paired with solar and large-scale pumped hydro projects.

  • Swan Lake North Pumped Storage (Klamath County): 393.3 MW pumped-hydro facility with a new 230 kV transmission line.[1]
  • Owyhee Pumped Storage (Malheur County): 600 MW pumped-hydro project connected to the 500 kV Summer Lake - Hemingway line.[1]
  • Crooked Creek and Winter Ridge Pumped Storage (Lake County): Two 500 MW closed-loop pumped-storage proposals.[1]

See Generation Projects section for large solar-paired battery systems (Yellow Rosebush, Buckley, Deschutes, Sunrise).

Data Center Power Agreements

Tech companies operating data centers in Oregon have signed wind PPAs to serve their load.

  • Amazon (AWS): 98.4 MW wind PPA tied to Avangrid’s Leaning Juniper IIA repowering project in Gilliam County.[2]
  • Google: PPA for more than 100 MW from Avangrid’s Leaning Juniper IIB wind project in Gilliam County, delivering power to Google’s The Dalles data centers through Northern Wasco County PUD.[3]

Interconnection Queue

BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) is reforming its interconnection process to address long study delays and queue backlogs.

  • Queue reform: BPA shifted from a serial study process to a first-ready, first-served cluster approach in 2024 to clear interconnection backlogs.[4]
  • Transmission pressure: The volume of large projects seeking interconnection, combined with EFSC’s active transmission project list, indicates constrained corridors and long lead times in Oregon’s key generation zones.[1]

What to Watch

  • B2H construction progress: The 300-mile Boardman to Hemingway line started construction in June 2025—completion will unlock major renewable capacity.
  • Gigawatt-scale solar permitting: EFSC’s review of Buckley, Deschutes, and Yellow Rosebush projects will determine whether Oregon can deliver the massive solar-storage capacity in its pipeline.
  • Additional data center PPAs: Google and Amazon have set a precedent—watch for other tech companies securing Oregon wind or solar contracts.

Sources

[1] Oregon Department of Energy, Energy Facility Siting Council. “EFSC Project Updates: January 2026.” January 2026. https://www.oregon.gov/energy/facilities-safety/facilities/Documents/General/EFSC-Project-Updates.pdf (accessed January 8, 2026).

[2] WPED Staff. “Amazon signs PPA for Oregon wind project undergoing repowering effort.” Windpower Engineering & Development, February 12, 2024. https://www.windpowerengineering.com/amazon-signs-ppa-for-oregon-wind-project-undergoing-repowering-effort/ (accessed January 8, 2026).

[3] American Public Power Association. “Northern Wasco PUD to Supply Power to Google Data Centers.” Public Power, July 22, 2025. https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/northern-wasco-pud-supply-power-google-data-centers (accessed January 8, 2026).

[4] Bonneville Power Administration. “BPA Implements Interconnection Reforms To Clear Queue Backlog.” Press release, July 1, 2024. https://www.bpa.gov/-/media/Aep/about/publications/news-releases/20240701-pr-12-24-bpa-implements-interconnection-reforms-to-clear-queue-backlog.pdf (accessed January 8, 2026).