Oregon Officially Terminates Permit for Fracked Gas Power Plant

In September 2022, as a direct result of Friends’ legal work, Oregon’s energy facility siting agency officially terminated the permit (called a “site certificate”) for the fracked gas plant known as the “Perennial Wind Chaser Station,” putting the final nail in the coffin for what would have been one of the state’s largest greenhouse gas polluters.

Friends’ success stemmed from a lawsuit we filed, along with Columbia Riverkeeper, against the Oregon Department of Energy for unlawfully allowing project construction to proceed even after the site certificate was supposed to expire by law. If constructed as proposed, the plant would have generated more than one million tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually, not including emissions from the fracking operations that would have supplied it with methane gas.

The official termination of this project marks a significant victory for all who want to see the Gorge’s air quality and special resources protected in perpetuity.

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This vacant land, directly adjacent to the existing power plant in the background, was the proposed site for the rejected Perennial Wind Chaser Station. © Ben Lonergan

This vacant land, directly adjacent to the existing power plant in the background, was the proposed site for the rejected Perennial Wind Chaser Station. © Ben Lonergan