What's Going on in Oregon?
Feed-in-Tariff Update
May 22, 2013 - OSEIA actively lobbied in support of HB2893 which extends the FIT pilot program by 2.5MW for small and mid-sized commercial systems up to 100kW for an additional year. The bill passed both the House and Senate and is now on the Governor's office awaiting his signature!
See the "Feed-in Tariff" page for rates and additional details.
Large Scale Siting
May 28, 2013 - OSEIA testified in support of
HB2820 which establishes a threshold of 320 acres below which solar projects can be permitted under local jurisdictional control that should simplify the process, saving developers both time and money. Projects above 320 acres will be subject to the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC). The bill passed the House and, as of today, the Senate. It will now move on to the Governor's Office where it is expected to be signed into law. Thanks to board member David Brown of
Obsidian Renewabless LLC for working on this issue for the past two years and doing much of the heavy lifting on this bill.
Property Tax Abatement
May 28, 2013 - OSEIA supports
HB2891 which allows municipalities to waive the employment requirement for renewable projects that invest a minimum of $5MM in designated Rural Renewable Energy Development Zones (RREDZ). Currently, the law requires that at least one new full-time position be created and maintained in order to receive up to 3 years of property tax abatement. HB2891 allows small, utility-scale solar projects to be eligible for the abatement, even though they do not typically support an ongoing full-time employee, as long as the municipality chooses to waive the employment requirement.
