Homebuilder Greg Welch, of Bend, said he believes in the sun and wind as reliable and affordable sources of power, and that’s why he signed on recently to a Sierra Club campaign to convince Pacific Power to phase out its coal-fired generation plants.

“I hear that coal isn’t the best, and we really should be looking to other means,” Welch said Thursday. “I guess I support that drive. In my personal use, in my personal home and in the homes we produce and sell, as a business, we do push alternative energy sources.”

A small-business owner can make a difference by sending a message, he said.

“I do it because I feel it’s the right thing to do and I might actually influence other people. If a whole bunch of little people do it, the big people might join in. It has worked.”

The Sierra Club hopes to build public pressure to force the utility to end its use of coal-fired generation plants to supply electricity in Oregon. However, large industrial power users — whose companies consume hundreds of megawatts — care more about the cost of electricity than the way it’s generated.

A Sierra Club field organizer, Victoria Leistman, reported that 72 businesses in Bend, from Greg Welch Construction to Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe to Townshend’s Tea House, signed on last month to the “Coal to Clean Energy Transition” campaign.

Pacific Power does not, necessarily, disagree with the initiative.

“They did sign up some businesses that want to transition away from coal. We’re completely on board with that,” said Paul Vogel, vice president for communications and public affairs for PacifiCorp, the parent company of Pacific Power. “Our rate increases over the last six or seven years, a significant majority of that is for renewables.”

Pacific Power provides electricity to nearly 600,000 customers in Oregon. Eleven coal-fired plants in Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Montana and Colorado supply about 60 percent of the electricity that PacifiCorp generates for Oregon. The utility also owns or partially owns natural gas-fired plants and has met its state-mandated quota for generating at least 15 percent of its load with renewable power by 2019.

PacifiCorp plans to shut down one coal plant next year, and shut down two more or convert them to gas in 2018 and 2025, Vogel said.

“We get it,” he said Friday. “We want to transition away from coal, but in a way that’s fair, reasonable and affordable for our customers.”

The Sierra Club chose Bend to drum up support because of the city’s reputation for encouraging use of alternative energy sources, said Lauren Randall, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign.

“Bend was one of the first communities that showed support,” she said. “Now we will mobilize in other communities across the state.”

The conservation group did not solicit the same support from large industrial and commercial power consumers, Randall said.

The Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities represents a group of 37 companies in Oregon and Washington that consume a combined 17 million megawatts of electricity every year, “a major portion of the Northwest’s energy load,” according to a recent document filed by the organization with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Randall could not say how much power, collectively, the 72 businesses in Bend consumed, or how many businesses declined to sign onto the Sierra Club’s clean power campaign.

“It shows a groundswell of support,” she said, referring to the Bend campaign. “Legislators will see their constituents in their districts are calling for this transition. It doesn’t necessarily have to come from a big kahuna like Intel.”

With 17,000 employees in the state, Intel Corp., the semiconductor chip maker, is the largest private employer in Oregon. It consumed more than 292 million kW at its Ronler Acres campus in the second quarter alone and 47 million kW at its Aloha campus, according to the company website. It also says that it saved more than 9 million kW at Ronler Acres in the past year through conservation measures.

In October, the EPA again named Intel No. 1 on its list of 100 biggest consumers of power generated by wind, solar and other alternative sources. Intel states that it purchases enough power generated by alternative sources to account for 100 percent of its energy consumption.

Intel’s Oregon campuses near Hillsboro lie within the Portland General Electric service area. PGE generates 670 MW by burning coal, about 24 percent of its total output, according to its website.

The chip maker also belongs to the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities.

In comments submitted Dec. 1 to the EPA, the lobbying organization argued that the proposed federal Clean Power Plan, which would trim U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent over 15 years, if implemented as written will increase its members’ power costs. The Clean Power Plan, released by the EPA in June for public comment, aims to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired plants believed to contribute to global climate change.

The industrial users group argues, among other points, that the plan penalizes Oregon and Washington for having already reduced carbon emissions. It also argues that climate change could reduce summer river flows by 20 percent, which will trim hydropower output during periods of peak demand. Doing away with coal-fired plants could force greater reliance on natural-gas-burning power plants that are “already running at or near full capacity,” the industrial group stated.

Chelsea Hossaini, Northwest communications manager for Intel, responding to questions about Intel’s position on climate change, carbon emissions and its membership in the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities, referred to the company’s 2013 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report states that “Intel believes in a portfolio approach to reducing our carbon footprint. Through a wide variety of efforts — including but not limited to conservation, energy efficiency, solar installations, green power purchases and efficient building designs — Intel has built a strong and sustainable approach to buying and using energy in an economical and environmentally conscious manner.”

The Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities is not a conservation organization, its executive director, John Carr, said recently. The industry group, like the Sierra Club, lobbies on behalf of its members in statehouses in Olympia, Washington, and Salem. It also takes part, like the Sierra Club, in rate cases and long-range planning for utilities at the Oregon and Washington public utility commissions.

“What I always tell folks is that we’re essentially resource agnostic,” Carr said Monday. “What the resource is, is not of that much interest. What is of interest is that we keep power rates reasonably priced and don’t do things that would impair reliable service.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com