Oregon Legislature Ends with Solar Wins!
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:
- 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.
- Community solar — the property tax exemption for community solar has been extended to the entire project, not just the residential portion
- Community Renewable Energy Grant Program — allocated an additional $20 million
- 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.
- Statewide energy strategy — The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) will develop a comprehensive energy strategy by November 1, 2025
- Support for environmental justice communities — ODOE will create an environmental justice program to give technical assistance and funding resources to EJ communities
- County energy resilience plans — counties can apply for $50K in grants to create a county energy resilience plans
- 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.
- 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!)
- A bill to increase the size of small utility scale project that are given standard contract rates
- A bill to incentivize clean energy manufacturing
- Tax incentives for utility scale projects
- 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.
Solar Regulatory Update — PURPA
The Oregon Public Utility Commission is wrapping up Phase 0 of UM 2000, the investigation into the implementation of PURPA in Oregon. Phase 0 focused on the development of a solar + storage rate to properly compensate solar developments with storage capacity. While the rate is for small PURPA projects, the hope among stakeholders is that it will provide a starting point for negotiation of larger, non-standard contracts. Below is an excerpt describing the key elements of the solar + storage rate:
- QF Eligibility — Up to 3 MW solar resource ; 4:1 — 1:1 solar to storage ratio, 2-4 hour battery.
- Proxy QF Resource — 3 MW solar resource modeled in IRP with 1:1 storage ratio and 4-hour battery.
- Capacity Contribution: Loss of Load Probability & Effective Load Carrying Capacity Model based on expected generation and storage dispatch during premium peak hours when possible.
- Peak Hours: 4 Hours/Day per month for each year of the contract based one loss of load probability need.
- Capacity Payment:$/MWh payment for generation in Premium Peak hours after sufficiency period.
- Peak Hour Update Process for Existing QFs: Utilities may file to update Premium Peak hours for new and existing contracts 30 days following IRP or IRP Update acknowledgement.
- Availability: 50 MW Tranche, with potential for more after it is filled.
Overall, OSSIA is happy with the resolution of the solar plus storage rate methodology. While the peak hour update process is a potential drawback there is further opportunity to weigh in on the rate when the utilities each file their compliance filings. OSSIA will continue to make recommendations that appropriately compensate QFs that incorporate storage when rates are filed in July 2023.
Treasury Department Releases New Guidance for Solar Non-Taxpayers
New Inflation Reduction Act Provisions Allow State, Local, and Tribal Governments, Non-profits, U.S. Territories, Rural Energy Co-ops, and More to Access Tax Credits for Building a Clean Energy Economy.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance last week on key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to expand the reach of the clean energy tax credits and help build projects more quickly and affordably, which will create good-paying jobs, lower energy costs for families, and advance American innovation.
Read the press release and guidance about direct pay and transferability here.
Oregon Solar Energy Education Fund Wins Workforce Development Grant
OSSIA’s sister organization, the Oregon Solar Energy Education Fund, was awarded a Federal Department of Energy Grant through our partners at Worksystems. The grant will allow the Solar Education Fund to create a one-day racking training for those interested in starting work in solar. After taking the training, participants will be placed with solar company working through Worksystems.
We are excited to start this new program to serve you better and bring you new employees faster! Big thanks to OSSIA’s Program Director, Dr. Michelle Maher, for securing this grant and creating this new program.
Read the DOE announcement here.
New BCD Guidance Released Photovoltaic Pathways
Detached One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Townhouses
The division has issued a new technical bulletin to provide guidance on the pathway requirements as they apply to photovoltaic systems installed on detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses and includes some examples illustrating common installations and roof types.
This guidance will be very helpful, especially regarding confusion regarding fire pathways.
View the new BCD Technical Bulletin.
Defending the IRA — Sign the letter!
As I’m sure you have seen in the news over the past several weeks, Congress and the White House have been working towards a deal to raise the debt limit and reduce government spending. You probably also know that during the initial phases of the negotiations, large portions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) were on the table for repeal. Fortunately, through focused advocacy and negotiations, the final version of the debt limit agreement that passed the House and Senate last week did not include a repeal of the clean energy provisions in the IRA.
We worked hard to avoid a worst-case scenario, but the discussion of IRA repeal in the early negotiations sets a concerning precedent for the remainder of this Congress and beyond. We are keenly aware that there is a small faction of Congress that would still like to repeal the IRA outright, and many others who will see the money allocated in the IRA as a piggy bank to fund other policy priorities. That is why SEIA will continue to engage in vigorous and outspoken defense of the IRA — and we need your help.
The first thing you can do is join our sign-on letter in defense of the IRA.
Sign the letter here, and please forward to your networks.
This letter is intended to be applicable to a broad group of companies and organizations who benefit from the IRA, so after you have signed, please forward the letter to your networks, including suppliers, offtakers, landowners, partner companies, community stakeholders, and any others in your network who benefit from and have an interest in preserving the IRA. We hope to bring together a large coalition of stakeholders in defense of this landmark policy.
We have a strong case to make, as the IRA is already yielding results and benefiting communities and individuals across the country. As we move forward, SEIA aims to highlight these benefits and educate members of Congress with stories and anecdotes that highlight the benefits that the IRA is already producing, and we will continue to produce in the future.
If you are interested in learning more about the work SEIA will be doing in defense of the IRA and how you can get involved, we will be hosting a webinar on June 14, 2:00-3:00pm Eastern.
Sign Up for the Webinar: Defending the IRA.
Invitation to Women to Volunteer with Girls Build Solar
At the 2022 Girls Build Solar, we made some good memories watching girls chase each other with the solar spray fans they made. Let’s make some more good memories this summer. We have been asked to serve 240 girls this year, with two tables going simultaneously — so we need your help!
SAVE THE DATES: GIrls Build Solar will be on Tuesday July 11, 18, and 25th, 2023 at the University of Portland.
Please fill out our Girls Build Solar Volunteer form to help us schedule and please forward this to other women in energy. This year, to reserve your spot for a Volunteer Training Session, either June 18th 2023, 1:00-3:00 p.m. or Monday, Juneteenth 19, 2023, 5:00-7:00 p.m., (required), please fill out the above volunteer form.
Each volunteer will receive a yummy lunch (incl. vegetarian and vegan options), a Girls Build t-shirt and their own solar take-home gadget (that the girls also make).
Also — VOTE for Girls Build to win funding! With this “election” you can vote every day! Click here to vote!
SEIA Becomes an Accredited Standards Development Organization
New SEIA accreditation will help to bolster responsible industry growth and tackle biggest challenges ahead
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an Accredited Standards Development Organization. SEIA can now convene industry stakeholders to develop national standards for materials, products, processes, and services in the U.S. solar and storage industry.
“Strong national standards are the bedrock of any successful industry,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “Through strong leadership and SEIA’s new ANSI accreditation, we will help the industry proactively and responsibly manage its growth, building confidence among solar customers, businesses, and key stakeholders alike. We look forward to creating new industry standards that will propel the industry forward and create a culture of compliance, helping to address PV recycling and provide assurances of ethical practices throughout the solar supply chain.”
Through national standards development, SEIA will create more open and efficient markets, reduce costs, and minimize risk for the industry. Setting effective standards will promote the use of best practices throughout the supply chain, making it safer and easier to develop and deploy solar while building trust among customers, businesses, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders.
SEIA will pursue a variety of new standards for the solar and storage industry, including standards that enhance supply chain traceability, consumer protection, and end-of-life or performance period management.
New standards will be developed under a multi-step, consensus process through
SEIA’s Standards Technical Committees, a diverse collection of SEIA members and non-members who represent producer, user, and general interest categories.
SEIA is committed to ensuring all voices are heard during the standards development process and welcomes participation in the Standard Technical Committees from a broad range of stakeholders interested in or affected by SEIA’s standards.
SEIA’s first Standards Technical Committee will focus on supply chain traceability and is planning to release its first American National Standard in early 2024.
