Oregon relying on more renewable energy as overall demand grows, report finds

Oregon is relying on less coal and more renewable energy sources for power, according to a recent report from the state Department of Energy. 

Last week, the agency released its “Biennial Energy Report” highlighting changes in Oregon’s energy use. The report shows wind and solar are an increasingly larger part of the state’s power mix, and the use of the latter has increased eighteenfold between 2014 and 2024. 

Hydropower remains Oregon’s largest source of energy, providing nearly 34% of the state’s power. Out-of-state electricity imports from unspecified sources, often natural gas or coal, make up another 21% of the overall share of power used in the state, and power known to be coming from natural gas makes up 21% of the mix. Wind powers 8% of the state’s electricity and solar provides 5%. Nuclear, biomass and geothermal energy contribute to smaller shares of the mix. 

Oregon has significantly reduced its reliance on coal over the past decade, according to the report. In 2016, 28% of Oregon’s energy mix came from coal. The most recent available data from 2024 shows that has fallen by more than two-thirds, to just about 8%. 

A 2021 state law mandates that Oregon’s largest electric utilities reduce their greenhouse gas pollution to 80% below 1990s levels by 2030 and 90% below 1990s levels by 2035.

Transportation accounts for more than a third of all energy consumption in Oregon, followed by industrial use — such as  semiconductor manufacturing and agriculture —- which accounts for another 24% of the state’s overall use. Commercial energy consumption, which includes data centers, has increased from 16% of statewide power use in 2022 to 20% in 2024 — a record, according to the report. 

Residential energy use makes up the remaining 19% of Oregon’s energy consumption. 

To read the report, visit the Oregon Department of Energy website.