If you are following conversation about power supply, reliability, and climate impacts in our region, you may have questions about the EWEB and University of Oregon generation study. This page brings together answers to some of the most frequently asked questions to help explain what's being studied, why it matters, and how it could inform future decisions.
You can also read more about this project in our newsroom:
What is this study?
EWEB and the University of Oregon (UO) are conducting a short-term study to evaluate whether UO’s on-site combined heat and power (CHP) generator can support grid reliability during periods of high electricity demand and limited renewable supply.
The study gives EWEB the option to operate the generator if specific supply-constrained peak conditions are met between January and March 2026.
Why is EWEB doing this study?
Regional resource adequacy studies indicate that supply-constrained peak events — when electricity demand is high and renewable generation is limited — are becoming more likely in the Pacific Northwest.
In extreme cases, these events could increase the risk of controlled outages across the region. EWEB is evaluating tools to reduce the likelihood of those emergency events while continuing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This study allows EWEB to evaluate whether the UO’s highly efficient local CHP resource could:
- Support reliability during peak conditions
- Potentially reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions compared to other gas plants
- Provide local operational flexibility
The goal is to make informed, data-driven decisions based on how the generator performs under real conditions.
What is a combined heat and power (CHP) generator?
A combined heat and power (CHP) system uses natural gas to generate electricity and captures the excess heat from that process to produce steam for heating buildings or industrial processes.
Most conventional power plants generate electricity and release waste heat into the atmosphere. The UO CHP system captures and reuses that heat, making it significantly more efficient than electricity-only generation.
What will EWEB learn from this study?
The study is designed to gather data in several key areas:
Greenhouse gas emissions
- Measuring the local emissions associated with operating the CHP generator and evaluating the net regional emissions if it reduces EWEB’s reliance on other power plants
Local air quality
- Quantifying local air pollution impacts
Reliability
- How the generator performs during supply-constrained peak conditions
- Whether it meaningfully reduces reliance on distant generation
Financial impacts
- Overall economic viability
Is EWEB moving away from renewable energy?
No. Renewable energy such as hydropower and wind supplies nearly all of Eugene’s electricity most of the time. In 2024, approximately 94% of EWEB’s power supply was carbon-free.
Will this increase local air pollution?
The study includes quantifying local air quality impacts. Understanding and transparently reporting those impacts is an important part of the study.
How could running a natural gas generator reduce emissions?
Running the generator would increase GHG emission locally during the hours it operates. The key question is the overall net greenhouse gas impact. If operating the UO generator reduces the need for a less efficient gas plant elsewhere in the region, total regional greenhouse gas emissions could decrease. However, if it displaces a cleaner resource, emissions could increase. The purpose of the pilot is to measure those outcomes.
It's also important to consider duration. The UO generator would operate only during limited peak demand periods, not continuously.
Ultimately, the study evaluates net climate impact — weighing short-duration local emissions against potential regional displacement effects and the broader, long-term emissions reductions enabled by electrification.
How does this align with EWEB’s climate goals?
EWEB’s Climate Change Policy includes:
- Maintaining a largely carbon-free electricity supply
- Helping use electricity efficiently
- Enabling community members to choose electric vehicles and heating instead of fossil fuels
Here are some examples of how this policy is working:
- On average, EWEB’s power supply is more than 90% carbon-free and getting cleaner. We have set a target of over 95% of annual energy from carbon-free resources by 2030.
- Electric vehicle adoption continues to grow. As of October 2024, there were 5,375 electric vehicles in EWEB’s service territory — a 35% increase from August 2023, according to the Oregon Department of Energy. These electric vehicles reduce community GHG emissions by more than 14,800 metric tons annually.
- In 2025, EWEB energy efficiency projects helped customers save more than 14 million kWh of electricity and approximately 1,000 MT of CO2 — roughly equivalent to removing 245 cars from the road or eliminating the annual emissions of 170 homes.
- EWEB incentives enabled 193 Building Electrification projects in 2025.
This progress depends on electricity that is not only clean, but also reliable and affordable. This study helps EWEB evaluate whether the UO combined heat and power generator can support that balanced approach.
How does this impact City of Eugene Climate Recovery Goals?
The City’s Climate Recovery Ordinance calls for reducing community fossil fuel use, including natural gas, by 50% by 2030 as well as achieving annual community GHG reductions of 7.6%. Achieving these goals depends heavily on electrification, especially in transportation — the source of roughly 53% of local GHG emissions — and in buildings, which account for about 28%, largely due to natural gas heating.
The key question is net climate impact – whether limited, short-duration emissions are outweighed by regional efficiency gains and the long-term emissions reductions enabled by electrification.
Why focus on local generation?
By developing partnerships here in Eugene, EWEB can find solutions that aren’t seen by distant corporations and politicians. Local generation can:
- Reduce reliance on distant power plants and long transmission lines, neither of which are being built fast enough
- Provide local energy during regional shortfalls
- Improve coordination and transparency with our community partners
- Strengthen preparedness for extreme conditions – every relationship we develop now is one that we can call upon in an emergency
- Keep financial benefits here in our community
How do data centers factor into this study?
Eugene does not currently host major data centers. However, reliability in Eugene depends on the health of the broader Northwest grid. We don’t operate in isolation. Significant electricity demand anywhere in the system affects overall resource availability, especially during peak conditions.
As a responsible public utility, EWEB must plan for regional reliability risks — including growth in electricity demand from data centers and other large loads — while continuing to support the transition from fossil fuels to clean electricity. This study helps evaluate whether a flexible local resource could strengthen reliability during rare regional supply constraints without undermining long-term climate progress.
