Following the Oregon House Bill 2021, which introduced new decarbonization goals, PGE announced to reduce emissions from its retail power supply by 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

[6][7][8] On August 6, 1892, Morey, Frederick Van Voorhies Holman, and Henry Failing formed the Portland General Electric Company.

[6] E. Kimbark MacColl, who chronicled the history of Portland, referred to it "a generous gift to a private company at the expense of future taxpayers" since it was constructed for a cost of $40,342 and sold 15 months later for $27,000.

His vision was for the company to light the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in 1905. in 1903, he traveled to the east coast to raise $3,000 from shareholders.

[9] PGE survived bankruptcy partially through cheap power purchases from BPA beginning in the fall of 1939, and by the end of 1941 they showed net profits.

[9] Ultimately, PEPCO and PGE were saved by World War II, which led to the construction of three Kaiser Shipyards and of Vanport City, Oregon to support them.

[10] The corporate officers of PGE claimed that this utility was not involved in the financial mis-dealings of its owner, pointing to the fact that many of its employees suffered when Enron froze the 401(k) retirement plan and were unable to sell the rapidly declining stock.

However, Ken Harrison and Joseph Hirko, PGE's CEO and CFO respectively at the time of the Enron merger were charged on several felony level counts primarily related to financial misrepresentation regarding Enron Broadband Services which had its headquarters within the World Trade Center complex that comprises PGE's corporate offices.

Ballot measures have been filed by citizens several times since the 1960s to convert some or all of PGE into a public utility district (PUD), the latest of these being in 2003.

Most were unsuccessful, but an exception was in 1999, when PGE announced it was selling its customer base in St. Helens, Scappoose, and Columbia City to West Oregon Electric PUD for $7.9 million.

Concerned by uncertainty that the Enron bankruptcy would bring, several local governments began investigation into acquiring PGE by condemnation.

When details that Goldschmidt had sexually assaulted a minor in the 1970s emerged, he withdrew from the negotiations, and was replaced by Peter O. Kohler, president of the Oregon Health and Science University.

The TPG purchase offer was denied by the Oregon Public Utility Commission, a three-member regulatory board, on March 10, 2005.