Report outlines Oregon's clean energy economy leadership

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A new report takes a close look at different aspects of Oregon's clean energy economy.

The Portland Development Commission and Business Oregon, the state's economic development division, will release a report Thursday drilling down into then numbers that show where the state excels when it comes to the emerging clean energy economy.

The report (available for download here) also highlights areas for improvement.

Oregon is a solid No. 2 in the nation, but well behind No.1 California when it comes to economic activity around clean energy, according to 70 indicators tracked in Clean Edge's Clean Energy Leadership Index, an annual report by the research firm Clean Edge.

Commissioned by the PDC and Business Oregon, Portland-based Clean Edge took a closer look at the numbers and compiled a 23-page report comparing Oregon to the other leading states including California, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas.

Some of the more striking findings in the report are:

• Oregon leads the group in installed wind capacity as a percentage of total energy capacity with 14.7 percent. The next closest is Colorado with 9.5 percent.
• Oregon's public EV charging stations is off the charts with 50 per 1 million people. The next closest is California with 16 per 1 million people.
• Despite the rest of the country catching up to the state on green building, Oregon still has the most LEED — the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification — projects per 1 million people. Oregon has 60 LEED projects per million compared to Colorado's No. 2 ranking in this area with 52.
• Oregon is No. 2 among the leading states in smart meter deployment, behind Arizona.
• Oregon utility customers have driven the state to the top of the charts for participation in green power programs. Oregon utilities report 2.3 percent of their revenue goes toward consumers buying clean power. Texas came in second in this category with 1.4 percent.

That last indicator shows the economic potential inherent in an engaged population, said Ron Pernick, the report's author and Clean Edge's cofounder and managing director.

"In Oregon you have one of the most active communities," Pernick said. "They're really thinking about and getting engaged in new solutions."

Patrick Quinton, PDC's executive director, said the report provides clarity for economic development officials across the many sectors that make up the clean energy economy.

"Given the relative newness of the cleantech industry, we along with other states have been looking for ways to measure the size of the industry," Quinton said. "We had a strong interest in finding someone who was collecting that data."

Quinton said the report provides a motivation for Oregon to improve.

"We want to be number one," Quinton said. "We can look to California and see what they did to create their leadership position."

Even with the data normalized to take into account the difference in population size, competing with California is a tall order for Oregon.

"Oregon does very well on policy, but there are other states that are ahead of it," Pernick said. "Saving part of the Business Energy Tax Credit was important, but obviously the state's tax credits aren't going to be as aggressive as they were before."

Oregon also lags well behind California when it comes to intellectual capital — the state lacks powerhouse research universities like CalTech, Berkeley and Stanford — and, even more pronounced, in venture capital. California's cleantech companies raised $8.6 billion between 2008 and 2010. Oregon's took in $291 million during the same period.

Pernick sees energy storage — from lithium ion battery development to smart meter production — as a cluster with potential for Oregon.

"It could be big for this area," Pernick said.

A recent report from the Brookings Institution was called into question earlier this year for what looked like an incomplete tally of green jobs. Despite the discrepancy, Oregon ranked second for clean energy–related jobs — again behind California — with a share of 3.4 percent of totally employment.

Pam Neal, senior program manager at PDC, said the institute is updating its numbers and will re-issue its report in the spring.

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