Press Releases
10/31/2019
PPM Announces 221 MW Klondike III Wind Project
PPM Announces 221 MW Klondike III Wind Project
Largest Wind Farm in Oregon goes into Construction
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November 9, 2006
PORTLAND, Ore. - PPM Energy, ScottishPower's (NYSE: SPI) competitive U.S. energy business, today announced the construction of the Klondike III Wind Project near Wasco, Ore. Klondike III is expected to be commercially operational in 2007.
Located in Sherman County adjacent to PPM's existing Klondike I and Klondike II Wind Power Plants, Klondike III is expected to generate 221 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Typically, a wind farm of this size can provide clean, renewable electricity to more than 56,000 homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association's calculation.
Klondike III will use 44 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines and 80 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines. PPM Energy is in discussions with a number of entities for the sale of energy and renewable energy credits from the project. Nationwide, customer demand for wind power is surging as utilities and municipalities add clean, renewable power to their supplies. Wind power can serve as a hedge against volatile fossil fuel prices and has proven to be a reliable, low-cost source of energy.
"PPM Energy is delighted to bring online the biggest wind farm in Oregon and our sixth wind project here in the Northwest where we are based," said Terry Hudgens, PPM Energy's CEO. "Whether you measure it from a commercial, environmental or community standpoint, Klondike I was a phenomenal success. So we built Klondike II and repeated the success story. Now we're building Klondike III and going for a hat trick."
Klondike III, combined with the recently completed 100 MW Leaning Juniper project, which was subsequently sold to PacifiCorp, brings the total to 321.7 MW of Oregon wind projects completed or under construction by PPM this year.
Local Economic Impact
The Klondike III project will support the local economy with property tax payments expected to be in the millions of dollars over the life of the project.
This project brings Sherman County closer to being financially viable," said Sherman County Judge Gary Thompson. "Klondike III adds one more part to our vision of a renewable cluster for the Mid-Columbia Region."
Up to 135 jobs, with approximately half of them from the region will be created during the ten month construction period. The project is expected to purchase about $4 million in local construction materials, such as gravel and concrete, and create approximately $1 million of demand for local services, such as fuel, food and lodging.
"Today's announcement is a giant step for Oregon's leadership in clean energy," said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. "The Klondike III wind project will help reduce our nation's reliance on foreign sources of energy, clean the air and provide a much-needed source of jobs and revenue for Sherman County. I intend to continue to use my positions on the Senate Finance and Energy Committees to encourage the development of additional renewable energy projects, such as Klondike III."
The Future of Wind Power in the Northwest
"The Klondike III project represents the first installment in what we expect to be an active year for wind project construction in 2007," said Elliot Mainzer of BPA's Transmission Planning Division. "Not only is PPM Energy bringing more wind online, the company is a valuable participant in the regional development of the Northwest Wind Integration Action Plan, which aims to integrate the region's growing number of wind projects at the lowest overall cost to BPA, our customers, and other regional ratepayers."
"Klondike III builds on our generous endowment of renewable energy potential in the region," said Rachel Shimshak, Director, Renewable Northwest Project. "This is another homegrown project that will move the west toward a cleaner, more diverse portfolio of energy resources."
About PPM Energy
PPM Energy now has more than 2,000 megawatts of wind energy in operation or under construction. The strength of its renewable project pipeline has allowed the company to increase its 2010 target by more than 50 percent to at least 3,500 megawatts developed or controlled by PPM Energy. PPM Energy balances its supply portfolio with sales to wholesale customers, placing almost all of its output in long-term contracts. Major customers include the cities of Seattle, Sacramento, Eugene, Pasadena, and Anaheim as well as investor-owned utilities such as Xcel Energy and Pacific Gas & Electric Company and the federal Bonneville Power Administration. PPM Energy also creates innovative new products to meet customer needs, such as operations and maintenance services and build-to-sell.
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
