Oregon’s 2024 Legislative Starts February 5th!
OSSIA is hard at work to ensure positive outcomes for solar and storage in the 2024 legislative session.
Here are OSSIA’s priorities for 2024:
Secure $10 million in funding for the Solar + Storage Rebate program
Support pro-renewable appointment at the Public Utility Commission and the Energy Facility Siting Council
Monitor and improve a stand-alone storage siting bill
Monitor and improve a clean tech manufacturing bill
Oregon’s 2023 Legislative Session Ends with Solar Successes
The Oregon Legislative session is finally over. It has been a tense and dramatic year but with great outcomes for solar. Thank you to OSSIA members who lobbied this year - you made a difference!
Here are OSSIA’s wins for the year:
1. Solar + Storage Rebate Program - extended for six years, set to end in January 2029. Supply chain issue is fixed - storage and solar must be purchased together, not installed together. The program received another $10 million for the next two years.
2. Community solar - the property tax exemption for community solar has been extended to the entire project, not just the residential portion
3. Community Renewable Energy Grant Program - allocated an additional $20 million
4. Utility scale siting - HB 3179 passed to increase the project sizes allowed to be permitted by the county, instead of the state Energy Facility Siting Council.
5. Statewide energy strategy - The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) will develop a comprehensive energy strategy by November 1, 2025
6. Support for environmental justice communities - ODOE will create an environmental justice program to give technical assistance and funding resources to EJ communities
7. County energy resilience plans - counties can apply for $50K in grants to create a county energy resilience plans
8. Extension for RED grants effected by Covid supply chain disruptions - small extension for grants awarded that were not able to meet construction deadlines during the pandemic.
9. Resilience hubs - grants for planning and building resilience hubs for emergencies that have to “maintain power during outages.”
Upcoming utility scale solar process
A proposal passed in HB 3409 to have the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) begin rulemaking and assemble an advisory committee to improve siting large scale renewable projects and minimize conflict with other land uses. While the intent behind this proposal is a good one, OSSIA has concerns with DLCD running the process and that the legislature does not have enough of a role. OSSIA plans to participate and move the process to be a productive one.
Bills that didn’t make it this year (we’ll get ‘em next year!)
1. A bill to increase the size of small utility scale project that are given standard contract rates
2. A bill to incentivize clean energy manufacturing
3. Tax incentives for utility scale projects
4. A bill to support microgrid infrastructure
While the next session in January 2024 seems far away, it’s only six month to plan and put legislative proposals together so after a short break, we’ll be right back at it.
Want to get involved? OSSIA members can join OSSIA’s Policy Committee! Reach out to Angela for more details.
Oregon’s 2022 Legislative Wrap-up– Wins for Net Metering, Community Solar AND Utility Scale!
The Oregon 2022 Legislative Session ended on March 4th with four big wins for OSSIA:
1. Bi-partisan passage of a partial property tax exemption for community solar projects. SB 1519 - SB 1519 creates a partial property tax exemption for Community Solar projects, on the portion of the project that is subscribed by residential ratepayers. Projects have anywhere from 10-100% residential subscribers, most privately owned projects have between 10-50% residential subscribers.
2. Extension of the full property tax exemption for net metered projects. The NEM property tax exemption got a six year extension as part of SB 1519.
3. Bi-partisan passage of the utility scale labor standards technical fix bill. HB 4059 - OSSIA, NIPPC and RNW have worked with labor unions to create HB 4059, a technical fix bill to provide clarity for developers and utilities on implementation of HB 2021. Projects will now have the ability to use a Project Labor Agreement instead of paying prevailing wage and meeting the apprenticeship standard. The bill also includes a good faith exemption if a developer is not able to find enough apprentices to meet the standard.
4. $5 Million more for the Solar + Storage Rebate Program. The $100 Million Climate Budget includes $5 million for the Solar + Storage Rebate Program.
What a great session for OSSIA! Thank you to all OSSIA committee members for their guidance and to our lobbyist, Niki Terzieff, of Leading Edge Public Affairs.
_______________________
Oregon’s 2021 Legislative Session Begins!
Jan 29, 2021
The Oregon Legislative session is off to a fast start for OSEIA. Our LRT update bill (S. 338) has a hearing on January 25th in the Senate Labor and Business Committee. You can watch Shannon Souza, OSEIA policy chair, testify here >
Another of OSEIA’s priorities, the renewal of the Public Purpose Charge that funds Energy Trust of Oregon incentives, will have an informational hearing on January 27th in the House Energy and Environment Committee hearing. The bill seeks to extend the incentives and allows storage incentives to be eligible. It also creates a 25% carve-out for low-income renewables projects. We support the extension and the changes and will work hard to pass the bill.
OSEIA is also working to revamp the RED grant program by moving to a community energy resilience program and working with our members of Congress to ask for federal stimulus funds to go to this program.
On the utility scale side of things, OSEIA is working to extend the PILOT – Payment in Lieu of Taxes – that allows large scale solar some certainty on property tax bills. OSEIA is also supporting work to amend Oregon’s land use goals to incorporate climate change and renewables into Oregon’s land use priorities.
OSEIA is also at the table shaping 100% Clean proposals, two proposals that are both led by OSEIA members! We are working to ensure that distributed generation, storage, and PURPA are protected and strengthened, in addition to other solar priorities.
Want to help? Join the policy committee!! Contact Angela for details.
What’s the status of Oregon’s Solar + Storage Rebate?
Jan 29, 2021
The first round of funding for the Solar + Storage rebate was a big success, with funds running out in just four months and over half the program being used for low-income projects.
We are working with the Oregon Department of Energy this session to request more funds. In a year of tight state budgets due to the pandemic, we’re asking for $3 million for the rebate. While this is still too small of an ask, it is a big ask in the eye of legislators that are balancing priorities.
The request for more funding is a budget ask, not a bill. This means that we’ll need to wait until the May 19th revenue forecast before we’ll have any sense if the rebate will be funded again. If we’re able to secure funding, it will not be available until July at the very earliest.
Want to see these funds renewed? We need your help in making the case to Legislators. Contact Angela to help out.
2020 Legislative Session
Feb 18th Update!!! OSEIA LRT bill passes unanimously through the Oregon Senate! Read more here >
OSEIA has negotiated a small update to the LRT license for the 2020 Oregon legislative session. The bill increases the project size that LRTs can work on from 25 kW to 50 kW and updates language to allow LRTs to install micro inverters.
OSEIA board members have been negotiating with IBEW for over a year and are happy that we’ve agreed on a good first step. After the bill passes we have pledged to continue talking in hopes of future updates.
2019 Legislative Session
Breaking News – HB 2618, Solar Rebates for All, passes the Oregon Legislature! Read more here >
2019 OSEIA Legislative Priorities
HB 2618 - Rooftop solar + storage incentive
Oregon has not had a statewide solar incentive for the past year and it is hurting customers across the state who want to install solar but need some support to make it happen. HB 2618 provides a rebate for up to $6,000 or 40% of the solar system. Unlike other Oregon incentives, this grant program would be statewide, allowing access to all Oregonians. The addition of battery storage paired with solar allows for resiliency in the face of emergencies. HB 2618 has bi-partisan sponsors in both chambers.
HB 2496 - Improving the Green Energy Technology 1.5% set aside
Oregon public buildings that receive state funds to build or remodel are required to dedicate 1.5% of the project cost to green energy technologies. While some great solar projects have been built across the state, other projects should have been built but ended up not complying with state requirements. HB 2496 seeks to make the law more flexible while also making sure it is properly followed. In addition, the bill includes solar paired with battery storage to count toward the 1.5%. Update May 20th, 2019 - HB 2496 passed both chambers and is on its way to the Governor for her signature!
Bills OSEIA strongly supports
HB 2322 - Updates Oregon’s land use goals to allow solar projects to seek goal exemptions
HB 2329 - Increases the size of projects that need to seek EFSC approval and allows projects to seek county approval instead of EFSC approval
HB 2020 - Clean Energy Jobs, creates a cap and trade system in Oregon
Bills OSEIA opposes
SB 451 - Allows waste incineration to accrue RECs, weakening the Renewable Portfolio Standard
