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Although PGE receives most of its electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration, it also produces its own power from a series of hydroelectric sites at dams on the Sandy, Clackamas, Willamette and DeschutesAlternate meanings: Deschutes River (disambiguation The Deschutes River is a river which runs through central Oregon and is a major tributary to the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon rivers, as well as a number of fossil fuelFossil fuels are coal and hydrocarbon fuels or hydrocarbon containing fuels such as petroleum (including natural gas). The utilization of fossil fuels has fueled industrial development and largely supplanted water driven mills and wood or peat burning for plants. Between 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s and 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic., PGE operated the only nuclear power plant in Oregon.
PGE currently has 12 corporate officers, who include Peggy Y. Fowler ( CEOChief Executive Officer CEO is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. The company may have one or more CEOs, but nowadays it's usually one person's job since sharing the job may not work and president), Frederick D. Miller (executive vice president), and James J. Piro ( CFO, executive vice president, and treasurer)
The utility was founded in 1889Events January-April January 8 Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine January 22 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC. February 11 Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890 January 30 ? Crown by Patrick Morey and Edward Eastham as Willamette Falls Electric. This corporation installed a hydro-electric generator at Willamette Falls to provide electricity to Portland. In the process, this corporation completed the first long-distance transmission line in the United States on June 3 of that year.
Willamette Falls Electric changed its name several times before settling on Portland Electric Power in 1932. Portland Electric Power was reorganized as PGE in 1948.
Ballot measures have been filed by activists several times since the 1960s to convert some or all of PGE into a Public Utility District (PUD), the latest of which was in 2003, and most have been unsuccessful. An exception was in 1999, when PGE announced it was selling its customer base in St. Helens, Scappoose, and Columbia City to West Oregon Electric PUD for $7.9 million. The terms of this sale would leave the physical assets of the distribution system -- the poles, wires and other components -- owned by Enron, who would then manage this system as a contractor exempt from state regulation. Voter distrust on both Enron and PGE was severe enough for them to approve the measure, despite $71,592 being spent in advertisements to oppose it, in comparison to the $2,304 spent by supporters. This resulted with those three cities becoming part of the Columbia River PUD on terms far more favorable to the customers; electricity rates immediately dropped in these cities, and remain lower than those for current PGE customers.On July 1, 1997, Enron Corporation bought PGE for $2 billion in stock and $1.1 billion in assumed debt. Then in 1999, and again in 2001, Enron attempted to sell PGE to other investor-owned utilities. The corporate officers of PGE have claimed that this utility was not involved in the financial misdealings of its owner, pointing to the fact that many of its employees suffered when Enron froze the 401(k) retirement plan and were unable to sell the rapidly declining stock. However, John Forney , an energy trader who invented various electricity trading strategies such as the " Death Star", operated from the trading floor in the PGE corporate offices.
Concerned by uncertainty that the Enron bankruptcy would bring, several local governments began investigation of acquiring PGE by condemnation. These studies were ended following the announcement on November 17, 2003 that a group called Oregon Electric Utility, led by former governor Neil Goldschmidt and backed by Texas Pacific Group, offered to buy PGE for $2.35 billion. This was the sole bid received by the bankruptcy judge, who has approved the bid. The offer now must be approved by a number of state and federal regulatory agencies.
Discomfort over the Texas Pacific purchase has led to a number of voter initiatives to convert parts of PGE into PUDs. PGE has so far defeated measures in Multnomah County ( November 14, 2003), Yamhill County (March, 2004), and Clackamas County ( May 18, 2004).
PGE received notice of a strike by 900 union workers, effective March 8, 2004, represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers . Points over which the negotiations broke down include retiree medical benefits as well as losses in the members 401(k) plan.
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