Klamath Energy: Reliable Power, Real Community Impact

Klamath Energy: Reliable Power, Real Community Impact

Southern Oregon’s high desert is home to incredible natural beauty, outdoor living, and more than 300 days of sunshine every year. It’s also home to Avangrid’s Klamath Energy facility in Klamath Falls, which helps power the regional electric grid around the clock and represents a vital piece of Avangrid’s broader portfolio in the Pacific Northwest while remaining a staple in the local community.

Klamath Energy includes a cogeneration plant and a peaking plant, with a combined capacity of 636 MW. The cogeneration plant plays a unique role, generating electricity to power homes and businesses across the region, along with steam, which is delivered to a neighboring wood products plant for use in its manufacturing processes.

“Reliable energy is very important,” said Doug Hudson, Senior Manager – Maintenance at Klamath Energy. “We’re making electricity and we’re putting it on the grid to make sure the grid is reliable and it’s there for people to use.”

Working closely with Avangrid’s National Control Center in Vancouver, Washington, Klamath Energy is a critically important piece of Avangrid’s generation fleet in the region, producing energy and helping balance the output of the company’s other projects in the Northwest.

“The Avangrid National Control Center is essentially mission control for the organization. This is where everything flows together. Our certified operators ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operations across the country,” said Nick Parlee, Executive Director of the National Control Center. “Our Balancing Authority operators are in direct communication with the Klamath Falls operators in real time.”

Beyond ensuring the reliability of the region’s electric grid, Avangrid and Klamath Energy deliver tangible benefits to the Klamath Falls community. The facility has paid over $40 million in local property taxes since it was built, helping fund public safety, schools, and other county services.

“This facility pays about $1.7 million a year in property taxes—that’s the equivalent of 1,000 homes in Klamath County. The amount that is paid to the general fund for law enforcement is about four sheriff’s deputies. They pay $360,000 a year toward the school bond that built Klamath Union High School, our local high school,” said Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot, offering examples of how Avangrid impacts the community.

But the impact extends beyond tax revenue. Many Klamath Energy employees volunteer their time in the community and serve on nonprofit boards. Avangrid also contributes annually to multiple local organizations on behalf of the facility through its Community Sponsorship Program, including the Klamath Basin Senior Citizens’ Center.

“Our budget has been cut, especially this year and last year,” said Theresa Edwards, Executive Director of the Klamath Basin Senior Citizens’ Center. “Avangrid has helped us make sure that we don’t have to limit the number of patrons we serve at senior lunch. That is a huge benefit to us. It also has gone to many different programs that keep our seniors healthy mentally and physically.”

“I have always felt it was very important to give back to the community that you are in,” said Hudson. “When I moved here eight years ago, it was one of the things I sought out right away—how can I give back? I know how blessed I’ve been to have the job that I have now. To be able to give back to others in the community is very important to me.”

Avangrid is committed to making a difference in the communities where it operates, and Klamath Energy is a clear example.

“We’ve had struggles for the past four or maybe five decades. But we’re starting to see this community go into a renaissance period and reinvent itself,” said DeGroot. “A community that starts believing in itself again to a point where they can see a future.”

 

 

 

 

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