November 2019 Newsletter

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Oregon Submits Comments to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis

When ODOE Director Janine Benner and Robin Freeman, our Associate Director for Government Relations, traveled to Washington, D.C. in September, they met with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, who sits on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Congresswoman Bonamici shared that the Committee was requesting public input about what the U.S. should be doing to fight climate change – including actions the U.S. could take around transportation, electricity, agriculture, and resilience, among others. The Committee will use the feedback to develop recommendations for policies, strategies, and innovations to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to the climate crisis.

The Oregon Department of Energy developed a coordinated response with 15 fellow State of Oregon agencies and the Governor’s Office to respond to these important questions. Among Oregon's recommendations: expand and continue federal incentives for adoption of electric vehicles and alternative fuels, reverse the rollback of fuel economy standards, support renewable natural gas development, develop a national renewable portfolio standard, encourage thermal decarbonization in buildings, design national smart thermostat programs, invest in new renewable technologies, and more. Read Oregon's complete comments online.

ODOE Senior Policy Analyst Tours Oregon's Public Utilities

Consumer-owned Utilities – including people's utility districts, co-ops, and municipalities – are an important partner to the Oregon Department of Energy. One of our Senior Policy Analysts, Adam Schultz, visited with representatives of 33 COUs at 26 different COU locations this year... with more in the works. Learn more about Adam's trip on our blog, including photos from some of Oregon's electricity providers.

Oregon Revs Up Efforts for Clean Transportation

Oregon has been working toward a goal of at least 50,000 registered zero emission vehicles on our roads by the end of next year. We're over halfway there, with 28,579 registered as of November 1. Earlier this year, the Oregon Legislature and Governor Brown established bold, new targets for ZEVs that build on the 50K by 2020 goal, including 250,000 registered ZEVs by 2025 and 90 percent of annual new vehicle sales by 2035. Read more about the new targets, how the State of Oregon will lead by example, and more on our blog.

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Siting Team Hosts Info Meetings on Utility-Scale Solar

This month, our Energy Facility Siting Team held two public information meetings about proposed utility-scale solar facilities in Oregon. The first info meeting was held in Maupin for the proposed 303-megawatt Bakeoven Solar Project on November 13. The second info meeting was November 14 in Silver Lake for the proposed 400-megawatt Obsidian Solar Center. Learn more about the energy facility siting process and how to get involved on our website.

Public Hearing: Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program

The Oregon Department of Energy will hold a public hearing on administrative rules for ODOE's new solar and energy storage rebate program on December 3, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. here at ODOE's office (550 Capitol St. NE in Salem). More information, including the draft rules, is available on our website, and you can sign up to receive email notices about how to get involved. The new rebate program will be up and running in early 2020.

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Energy Facility Siting Council Approves Solar Farm

On November 22, the Energy Facility Siting Council approved the fourth EFSC-jurisdictional solar farm in Oregon. The Wheatridge Wind Energy Facility is approved to be built in both Morrow and Umatilla counties, and was originally approved in 2017 as a 500-megawatt wind facility. At its November meeting, EFSC approved an approximately 900-acre expansion, including the addition of a 150-megawatt solar component and up to 41 battery storage systems dispersed around the site. It’s the second state-jurisdictional energy facility to combine wind + solar + battery storage. Learn more about the project on ODOE’s website.

 

Reports From Around the Agency

  • We were proud to support the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board's 9th Annual CUB Conference on November 8. This year, in addition to financial support, we developed six policy briefs to support the six conference panels. We also produced an abridged version of our 2018 Biennial Energy Report for each attendee packet. Check out the online versions on CUB's website.

  • On November 1, ODOE Director Janine Benner discussed energy resilience and emergency preparedness during a "Preparing for the Big One" panel discussion at Oregon Tech's 2019 Energy-Environment Future Summit.

  • Upgrading the windows on your home or business is a great way to cut energy costs. On our blog this month, we discuss the costs and benefits to a window upgrade.

  • ODOE Senior Siting Policy Advisor Max Woods and Senior Policy Analysts Rebecca Smith and Rob Del Mar joined the Association of Oregon County Planning Directors for an Energy Summit in Prineville on November 7 to discuss the status of renewable energy in Oregon.

  • Facilities Engineer Blake Shelide discussed mechanical and HVAC provisions of the 2019 Energy Code at a code training presented by Energy Trust of Oregon and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

  • Energy Analyst Christie Sphoon joined the Oregon Association of School Business Officials Fall Conference to discuss how school districts can work with ODOE and Energy Trust of Oregon to make energy improvements in public schools.

  • Roger Kainu, ODOE Energy Analyst and home energy score expert, joined the Rogue Association of Realtors for a KCMX radio show to discuss home energy scoring in Oregon. Give it a listen online.

  • On November 19, ODOE Energy Analyst Tom Elliott and Policy Analyst Wendy Simons attended the Willamette Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems workshop #2. INFEWS is a research project funded by the National Science Foundation to study current and future tradeoffs between food, water, and energy in the Willamette River Basin.

  • ODOE will hold two public hearings in December for program rulemakings. On December 3 at 1:30 p.m., we will hold a hearing on administrative rules for the Solar + Storage Rebate Program. On December 5 at 2 p.m. we will hold a hearing for 1.5% for Green Energy Technology Program rules.

 

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Climate Change, Energy Facilities, Get Involved, Renewable EnergyJennifer KalezNewsletter, Solar, Electric Vehicles, Zero Emission Vehicles, Climate Change, Consumer Owned Utilities, Utility-Scale Solar, Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program, Get Involved