Jun 3 2019
NW Natural, a subsidiary of NW Natural Holding Company, has concluded its North Mist Expansion Project and is currently offering no-notice storage to Port Westward plants of Portland General Electric in order to balance renewable power on the grid.
We’ve worked diligently to complete this innovative, one-of-a-kind service. I’m proud of everyone involved as we place one of the largest projects in our utility’s history into service. We believe this is an important step in supporting our region’s move to more renewable power while also enhancing grid reliability.
David H. Anderson, President and CEO, NW Natural
The project is worth $149 million and includes a new three Bcf reservoir, a compressor station, and a 13-mile pipeline. This storage service will allow Portland General Electric to draw on its natural gas resources from the Mist, Oregon-located facilities of NW Natural to address its fueling requirements and quickly respond to peak demand and variability of solar, wind, and hydro generation.
Portland General Electric has contracted the facility for an initial period of 30 years with renewal options of around five decades beyond that.
Our customers are counting on us to be clean energy leaders and keep our electric grid as reliable and affordable as possible. The North Mist Expansion gives us more flexibility to continue adding renewable resources without compromising our ability to keep the system resilient and reliable.
Maria Pope, President and CEO, Portland General Electric
NW Natural will be able to recover its cost of service for the investment, which also includes its approved cost of capital, with instant earnings under a defined tariff schedule that was earlier sanctioned by the Oregon PUC.