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Portland, OR

Oregon's Energy Future: Navigating Reliability, Affordability, and Climate

When

WhereUniversity Place Hotel & Conference Center, 310 SW Lincoln St, Portland, OR, 97201. Directions

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Description from the publisher

About the Program Oregon has set ambitious targets for its energy future: a grid that is reliable, electricity that stays affordable, and steep reductions in carbon emissions. But these goals carry tensions and tradeoffs that can be difficult for the public to understand. As utilities, regulators, and communities weigh how to keep the lights on, hold down costs, and meet the state’s climate commitments, the choices made in the coming years will shape the daily lives of Oregonians for decades. This Friday Forum panel discussion provides an opportunity for leading regional energy experts to unpack the competing pressures facing Oregon’s energy system and the available paths forward. Panelists include Arne Olson, Senior Partner at Energy and Environmental Economics (E3), Karin Power, Commissioner for the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC), and Ruchi Sadhir, Associate Director of Strategic Engagement at the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Ted Sickinger, Business and Economy Editor at The Oregonian, will moderate. Registration Details General admission is free for everyone, but registration is requested to help us manage capacity. Lunch admission is $25 for City Club members and their guests, and $32 for nonmembers. It includes lunch and reserved seating. Lunch registration closes Tuesday, December 8 at 12:00 pm. Lunch is served buffet style, with options for most dietary needs (please let us know if you need any additional accommodations and we can ask about making you an individual plate). December 11’s “Northwest Pasta Bar” menu includes the following: Mixed Green Salad (w/ Garden Vegetables and Farm Vinaigrette) House-Made Focaccia Bread (w/ olive oil drizzle, house-infused salt, and cracked black pepper) Two Pasta Choices (Casarecce or Fettuccine) Two Sauce Choices (House Made Marinara w/ Garlic + Basil or Creamy Mushroom Alfredo w/ Wine, Garlic, Lemon, + Crave Farm herbs) Two Protein Choices (Grilled Rosemary Chicken or Handmade Meatballs) Grated Parmesan [Register Here!] Speakers Arne Olson leads E3’s planning practice helping clients navigate changes to bulk electric system operations and investment needs brought about by higher levels of clean and renewable energy production. He has led a number of landmark studies of the feasibility and cost of achieving deep decarbonization and high renewable penetration goals for electric utilities. Olson has over 30 years of experience in the energy industry, is a frequent speaker at energy industry conferences, and has provided expert witness testimony in over a dozen jurisdictions. His clients include utilities, asset owners, market operators, government agencies and environmental organizations. Prior to joining E3 in 2002, he served for six years in the Energy Policy Division of the Washington State Energy Offices. Arne holds an MS in international energy management and policy from the University of Pennsylvania and the Institut Français du Pétrole; a BS in statistics and a BS in mathematical sciences from the University of Washington. Commissioner Karin Power was appointed to the OPUC by Governor Tina Kotek in February 2025. Prior to her appointment, Power served as Governor Kotek’s Natural Resources and Climate Advisor and as a State Representative from 2017 to 2023. In the Oregon House, served as Chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee and as Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction. Earlier in her career she served as Associate General Counsel for The Freshwater Trust, advising on environmental compliance solutions for municipalities and public and private utilities. Power has also served on the board of Clackamas Community College and as a Milwaukie City Councilor. Commissioner Power holds a BA in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College and a JD from Lewis & Clark Law School, with a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. Associate Director Ruchi Sadhir has served with the Strategic Engagement at ODOE since 2018, and has a long history of energy and policy expertise in Oregon. Previously, she served as Governor Kate Brown’s Energy Policy Advisor, working on a range of matters related to energy and climate change. Prior to joining the Governor’s office, she was the Senior Policy Advisor at the OPUC, where she tracked burgeoning energy policy issues confronting regulated utility industries and led dockets on exploration and formulation of new policy. Before her work at the OPUC, Sadhir helped lead development of renewable energy and electric transmission siting and permitting policy in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior, staffed the Obama Administration’s “Rapid Response Team for Transmission,” and was a law clerk at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Sadhir holds an LLM in Environmental Law from the George Washington University Law School, a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and a BS from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Ted Sickinger is The Oregonian’s business and economy editor. Ted joined The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2000 after a five-year stint at The Kansas City Star, and has previously covered telecom, banking, technology, utilities and energy, Oregon’s public pension fund, forestry and other topics. He graduated from St. Lawrence University and attended the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. Thank You! Thank you to City Club’s Fall 2026 Season Sponsors: AARP Oregon, the Don Sterling Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Fight Against Sex Trafficking, and NW Natural. City Club of Portland relies on organizational sponsors to help cover the costs of bringing free programming to our members and the public. As a nonpartisan, impartial forum for civic dialogue, City Club accepts sponsorships from a wide spectrum of organizations. Our policies prevent sponsors from influencing the content of our programming and research. City Club is deeply grateful to all of our supporters.

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