Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Wednesday said he will create a new advisory council to help guide the state’s future energy strategy.

Called the Oregon Planning and Energy Council, or OPEC for short, the group will report regularly to both Kulongoski and the Legislature to recommend both legislative and budgetary needs for energy policy.

Details of the group are still being ironed out. Kulongoski said he hopes to sign the executive order creating the group by the end of September. He hopes to include representatives from the state’s universities, an economist, and representatives from the environment and energy sectors — specifically the federal Bonneville Power Administration.

Among the group’s tasks:

• Providing the governor and Legislature with analysis on energy forecasting, transmission, price stability, renewable energy, alternative energy sources and energy efficiency.

• Developing immediate, intermediate and long-term plans for the state’s energy needs.

• Conducting an ongoing review of the state’s anticipated energy needs and supply and making recommendations to bridge any gaps.

• Identifying challenges to the immediate issues of price stability and energy supply certainty.

• Advising the governor and Legislature on emissions and environmental impacts of recommended energy strategies.

In an interview, Kulongoski said too many of Oregon’s energy debates are conducted within “silos,” often politicized and isolated from big-picture analysis. The new group is intended to give that over-arching, long-term assessment of energy policy while keeping the public involved, he said.

“I want this to be above the political arena,” Kulongoski said. Members of the public “do not sense an overall strategy. The public reaction is to reject something they don’t know.”