PORTLAND, Ore. (April 20, 2023) — Pacific Power is celebrating Earth Month with an update on local wildlife habitat restoration projects awarded through the Blue Sky Habitat program last year. These efforts, some of which are still in progress, will benefit the planet for years to come.
Pacific Power customers can choose to support Blue Sky Habitat on their bills by matching their electric use with renewable energy and allocating an additional $2.50 toward habitat restoration projects. Funds from Blue Sky Habitat participants are allocated to The Freshwater Trust, which coordinates the use of customer funds and provides matching grant dollars to local restoration efforts.
“Blue Sky Habitat participants support salmon and native fish enhancement projects that are important for our ecosystem and communities,” said Cory Scott, vice president of customer & community solutions. “We’re immensely proud to support our partners’ work, made possible by our participants’ generosity.”
Together with local partners across Oregon, The Freshwater Trust used Blue Sky Habitat participant funds to support projects benefiting more than 25 miles of river habitats last year:
- The Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce is reclaiming a World War II ship mooring basin for the salmon that rely on local water flow. With the help of funds administered by Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Habitat program, crews will build more than 18 acres of new tidal channels to improve fish access, refuge area and habitat.
- The Hood River Watershed Group is boosting recovery of spring chinook, winter steelhead, coho, cutthroat trout and the endangered bull trout. Efforts will center on restoring a fish passage on Tony Creek to reconnect over five miles of critical habitat.
- Quality stream habitats for Clackamas’ Sandy basin salmon and steelhead will become self-sustaining after the Freshwater Trust’s efforts to clear dams and dikes, restore fish passages and add large wood to side channels and stream margins.
- The Applegate Partnership is using funds to remove fish passage barriers that impede coho salmon access to quality upstream habitats on Williams Creek in Josephine County.
- And in Jackson County, ahead of schedule, the Rogue River Watershed Council completed a two-mile restoration of threatened salmon habitat. The team removed invasive plant species, reconstructed side channels and restored instream flow to create a viable rearing habitat for young summer steelhead, coho and chinook salmon.
Since 2011, Pacific Power Habitat participants have awarded over $2.1 million to Oregon-based restorations across our service area. These investments help our partners leverage funds raised from other sources to increase project impacts.
How Blue Sky works
Blue Sky is a voluntary program that allows participants to match their energy usage with the purchase of renewable energy credits, and Blue Sky Habitat allows them to support habitat restoration. It’s an effortless way for participants to champion renewable energy in the West, above and beyond Pacific Power’s substantial and growing commitment to renewables.
In addition to supporting renewable energy in the West, funds from Blue Sky participants’ support have allowed Pacific Power to partner with community organizations to fund 157 local renewable energy projects over the years. These projects have helped community organizations save money on electricity costs and reinvest those funds to support their missions in the communities we serve.
Pacific Power customers who want to participate in Blue Sky may call toll free at 1-888-221-7070 or visit Blue Sky Renewable Energy.