Oregon
Clean and Efficient Energy Policies and Commitments
State Policy
| Utility Spending: Energy Efficiency | $69.1 million in 2007 by all utilities in the state (EIA) |
| Legislation Affecting Utilities |
In 1989, the Oregon Public Utility Commission’s (OPUC’s) Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) Order No. 89-507 required investor-owned utilities to consider energy efficiency as a resource when developing plans. Customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas are served by statewide programs administered by the nonprofit Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) that was created in 2002. The Oregon Public Utility Commission establishes and sets annual efficiency targets for ETO that apply to the above utilities. On June 6, 2007, Senate Bill 838 was signed adopting a renewable electricity portfolio standard for the state. SB 838 requires Portland General, PacifiCorp and Eugene Water & Electric Board to meet 25 percent of their electric load with new renewable energy sources by 2025. Sources of energy that count toward the standard include wind, solar, wave, geothermal, biomass, new hydro or efficiency upgrades to existing hydro facilities. The new law also requires smaller utilities to meet either a 5% or 10% standard. To be eligible, electricity must come from renewable energy facilities that come into service in 1995 or later. Utilities whose sales equal less than 3% of all electricity sold to retail electricity consumers are not subject to the renewable portfolio standard until 2025. HB 3039, signed in July 2009, establishes a solar photovoltaic standard within the state renewable portfolio standard. The solar photovoltaic standard is set at 20 megawatts by 2020 and applies to systems greater than 500 kilowatts and less than five megawatts in capacity. Only investor-owned utilities will be required to meet their share of this statewide standard. Relevance to Public Power: Public power is not bound by Order No. 89-507 of 1989 and SB 1149 of 1999. Depending on the size of the utility (see above), public power may be obligated to meet the state’s RPS standard. However, in 2025 the RPS becomes mandatory for all utilities in the state |
| Building Codes | Current Status |
| Standards for Appliances | Oregon passed legislation for Energy Efficiency Standards in 2005 and 2007 creating standards for seventeen products. As of January 1st, 2010, eleven of these are preempted by federal standards. Product still regulated according to standards set by Oregon’s Department of Energy are:
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| Climate Change Action |
On August 6, 2007, House Bill 3543 was signed which set statewide GHG emission targets for Oregon directing the state to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 and to reduce GHG emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. HB 3283 (1997) created standards for baseload gas power plants, non-baseload power plants, and nongenerating energy facilities that emit carbon dioxide. These entities must reduce their net carbon dioxide emissions 17 percent below the most efficient baseload gas plant in the United States. HB 3283 allows covered utilities to offset their emissions by implementing carbon dioxide offset projects either directly or through a third party. Alternatively, they may provide funds (corresponding to their carbon dioxide emissions) to The Climate Trust, a non-profit organization established to implement projects that reduce or sequester carbon dioxide emissions. SB 101, signed in July 2009, applied a different performance standard to all baseload power plants. Generators of baseload power must have emissions equal to or less than 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, and utilities may only make long-term purchase agreements for baseload power with generators that meet this standard. While generators were able to purchase offsets for compliance under HB 3283, SB 101 does not have any provisions for compliance through offsets. |
| Regional Coordination | Since February 2007, the state has been a member of the Western Climate Initiative. |
Commitments by Public Power Communities
| U.S. Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement |
Ashland, Eugene, Forest Grove |
| EPA's Green Communities |
Salem |
Public Power Utility Initiatives
Last Update: March 2011.
Statistics
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