PacifiCorp will build and reconductor transmission lines to support existing and future power generation.
January 16, 2025
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Jigar Shah
Former Director, Loan Programs Office
Jigar Shah served as Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from March 2021 to January 2025. He led and directed LPO’s loan authority to support deployment of innovative clean energy, advanced transportation, and Tribal energy projects in the United States. Prior, Shah was co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change.
Shah was also featured in TIME's list of the "100 Most Influential People" in 2024.
Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced today a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $3.52 billion to PacifiCorp, an electric utility serving six western states, for Project WIRE. The loan guarantee would help finance several transmission projects in various states, including Idaho, Oregon, and Utah to help meet expected demand growth. Project WIRE would include the construction of multiple greenfield transmission lines that will augment overall system capacity and reduce the curtailment of existing wind plants. Through the loan period, the project will support approximately 3,500 existing operations and union-represented construction jobs that pay a living wage. PacificCorp submitted its application to LPO in December 2023.
Project WIRE’s currently contemplated portfolio of projects is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing the capacity and reliability of PacifiCorp’s network, allowing more transmission of existing and future generation without direct emissions. In total, Project WIRE is currently expected to create approximately 700 miles of new high-voltage transmission, which will increase transmission capacity by over 3,000 megavolt-amperes.
Additional transmission infrastructure can significantly improve grid operational flexibility, which can reduce overall grid costs and enhance system reliability (particularly during extreme weather events), according to the Grid Deployment Office’s National Transmission Needs Study.
All electric utilities receiving an Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) loan must provide assurance to DOE that financial benefits received from the financing will be passed on to the customers of that utility. Project WIRE is expected to reduce upward pressure on electricity rates for PacifiCorp ratepayers due to the reduced cost of debt associated with LPO financing.
PacifiCorp’s proposed loan is expected to reduce upward pressure on electricity rates for PacifiCorp ratepayers due to the reduced cost of debt associated with LPO financing, and PacifiCorp customers could benefit from approximately $1 billion in total savings over the life of the loan based on current credit spreads and credit ratings.
LPO borrowers are required to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP). CBPs ensure borrowers meaningfully engage with community and labor stakeholders to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of the local community and workers.
PacifiCorp has strong working relationships with local unions developed through continuous engagement with union members. Over half of PacifiCorp’s current workforce represented by six local labor unions under the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) and Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA). PacifiCorp plans to utilize these labor unions in WIRE projects. Project WIRE will create jobs across different skills—such as engineers, communication technicians, substation technicians, and linemen. All technicians and linemen will be represented by a union.
PacifiCorp also has a dedicated Technical Training Division that trains workers to integrate new technologies into their work. This team identifies new skills, develops employee capabilities, and matches trained employees to new opportunities. PacifiCorp also provides structured on-the-job training to trainees and apprentices in coordination with labor partners.
Today’s announcement marks the latest EIR project under LPO’s flexible loan facility and disbursement approach tailored for regulated, investment-grade utilities. The Inflation Reduction Act created the EIR category under the of Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program. Also known as the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program (Section 1706), EIR supports projects that retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or that enable operating energy infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions.
While this conditional commitment indicates DOE’s intent to provide a loan guarantee to finance the project, DOE and the company must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan guarantee.