Portland General Electric CompanyPOR

Morningstar Rating

Stock Research and Analysis

by Mark Barnett

Portland General Electric is taking advantage of Oregon's eco-friendly political atmosphere with a capital investment program aimed at lowering generation costs and its reliance on open-market energy purchases. The pieces are falling into place to generate Read more

Bulls Say

The company's performance in 2007 and 2008 suggests that Portland General is back on track and getting its house in order with help from an improving relationship with its regulators.

Aggressive programs for rate-base expansion fall in line with new environmental standards mandated by the Oregon legislature, increasing Portland General's prospects of successful rate increases.

The decoupling mechanism should help shield Portland General's results from declines in customer usage, especially valuable in times of economic stress.

Portland General's dividend yields 4.55% at our fair value estimate.

Oregon's growing solar manufacturing industry could provide a boost to Portland General's growth during the next decade. Read more

Bears Say

Fluctuations in purchased power costs could mean lower profits, even with the company's tight power-cost adjustment mechanism.

Portland General relies on a high level of external financing to fund its growth. Without sufficient access to capital markets, growth plans could suffer.

Although Portland General's allowed return on equity is lower than the national average, that average is in steady decline across the nation, and the company's regulators could follow suit.

A long 2006 outage at the company's Boardman plant suggests that Portland General's plants may have been poorly maintained in the past. Read more

Strategy

Portland General is pursuing an aggressive program of rate base expansion to comply with Oregon environmental standards, improve infrastructure, and increase future earnings. The company is focused on Read more

Management

New CEO Jim Piro leaves behind his role as CFO at Portland General, bringing 35 years of utility experience to the table, including long experience with engineering and finance. His background could prove invaluable in difficult financial markets. He Read more

Profile

Portland General Electric is a regulated electric utility providing generation, transmission, and distribution services to approximately 814,000 customers throughout Oregon. Read more

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