September 2020 Newsletter
Thank You
September has been a challenging month for Oregonians – to say the least – with widespread wildfires followed by off-the-chart Air Quality Index numbers. The team here at the Oregon Department of Energy is grateful to the dedicated utility workers, fire fighters, and other first responders who are battling fires, helping evacuees, and restoring power to our communities.
We know that with climate change comes more potential summers like this, with increased wildfire risk that threatens the energy sector. Like many of you, our agency is focused on mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change. Learn more about our work to address climate change on our website.
ODOE Publishes Electric Vehicle Dashboard
This month, the Oregon Department of Energy published a new interactive electric vehicle dashboard showing how more Oregonians are making the switch to EVs – including EV adoption rates, most popular EV models, charging information, and more. As the dashboard shows, electric vehicles are steadily becoming a more practical (and affordable!) transportation option in Oregon.
The dashboard displays Oregon’s total number of electric vehicles by type, such as battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and by county location. Users can drill down further in the data to explore a variety of information, including the number of BEVs and PHEVs for every 1,000 residents, the area’s median household income, and average work travel time. A deeper dive through interactive maps shows EVs by electric utility and by census tract. The platform even allows the user to look at EV registrations in Oregon since 1995 and the number of EVs registered in Oregon by make, model, and year. Check it out.
ODOE Report Highlights Solar + Storage Rebate Program Progress
ODOE submitted its first report to the Oregon Legislature outlining our progress so far for the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program. The program issues rebates for installed solar and solar with paired storage projects for residential customers and low-income service providers across the state.
Since its launch in January, the program has already issued 174 rebates for completed residential solar projects, including 11 that also installed storage. An additional 144 rebates are reserved for projects in the works, including 33 proposed projects for low-income service providers. In total, the 318 projects represent nearly $1.3 million in rebate funds for projects in 23 of Oregon’s 36 counties!
An important goal of the rebate program is to expand access to renewable energy to low- and moderate-income Oregonians and low-income service providers. The program requires that at least 25 percent of the program funds go to those low income customers – and ODOE expects to far outpace that goal, with over half of the committed funding already set aside for them. Learn more on our blog.
Chemical Waste Management Risk Assessment and Corrective Action Plan Now Available
On September 1, Chemical Waste Management of the Northwest and its team of technical support contractors submitted the detailed risk assessment and corrective action plan required by the Oregon Department of Energy following a February 2020 Notice of Violation for illegal disposal of radioactive materials in the Arlington landfill. After completing our initial technical review, we published the documents on our website for public review.
ODOE is accepting public comments through November 8, 2020 on the documents and CWM’s preferred alternative for dealing with the waste currently in the landfill. Comments may be submitted to ODOE.Comments@Oregon.gov. ODOE staff will also continue a thorough technical review of the documents, and will host two public meetings on the documents on September 30. More information about the violation, documents, and public meetings is available on our website
ODOE Helps Fuel Oregon in Midst of Disasters
This season’s record-breaking wildfires created widespread road closures across the state and shut down rail operations south of Salem. As a result, some petroleum and ethanol haulers required extra support to ensure delivery of critical supply to Oregon communities in need of fuel for fire-fighting and other life-saving services.
The Oregon Department of Energy’s Emergency Preparedness Manager, Deanna Henry, collaborated with the fuel industry and the Oregon Department of Transportation to secure an Hours of Service Waiver, which allows for more flexibility in how and when companies deliver fuel. Deanna’s work is one example of ODOE’s Oregon Fuel Action Plan in action – the idea behind the plan is to be able to scale up (for an emergency like a Cascadia earthquake) or scale down (like for the 2017 solar eclipse or these wildfires) to ensure Oregon has the petroleum it needs to get through a disaster.
We’re all in this together, and ODOE is proud to help Oregon through these unprecedented and challenging times. Read more about how Oregonians are taking care of each other across the state.
Reports from Around the Agency
Maxwell Woods has been named ODOE's new Assistant Director for Nuclear Safety and Emergency Preparedness! Max is no stranger to ODOE, having served as a Senior Policy Advisor and Team Lead on the Energy Facility Siting Team over the last six years. He is an experienced leader in Oregon environmental and energy policy – learn all about him on our blog.
Our Energy Facility Siting Division is seeing an increase in the number of applications for large-scale, state-jurisdictional energy projects. The team is currently reviewing seven applications located in eight counties, including: a 500 kV transmission line; five solar PV projects totaling 1,223 MW of proposed electrical energy generation along with more than 1,600 MW of battery storage; and 350 MW of wind.
On August 28, ODOE filed final Administrative Rules with the Secretary of State's office for new energy efficiency standards. The new rules were developed through a public process following Governor Brown's Climate Change Executive Order 20-04.
On September 1, ODOE sponsored the Northwest Environmental Business Council Oregon's Energy Future Conference. ODOE Senior Policy Advisor Adam Schultz moderated a panel on grid resilience, which focused on short-term and long-term risks to the grid.
On September 21, ODOE Director Janine Benner and Nuclear Remediation Specialist Jeff Burright joined the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee for an update on the Chemical Waste Management Notice of Violation. Watch the presentation online.
We enjoyed this read in Solar Builder Mag this month, which gave a cool rundown of different energy storage and microgrid projects – including two in Oregon.
ODOE's solar experts will be on hand for the Oregon Solar Energy Industry Association's virtual Oregon Solar Energy Conference on October 6-8. ODOE is proud to sponsor the conference, and our team will join a conference panel to talk about the Solar + Storage Rebate Program.
ODOE is also supporting the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board Policy Conference this year, which takes place online October 16. The conference will focus this year on improving our energy systems in the age of COVID-19. ODOE Director Janine Benner will be a panelist discussing Governor Brown's Climate Change Executive Order 20-04.
The People’s Ecochallenge.org is back October 7-28, and has plenty of energy activities that benefit our environment. Check out actions like adjusting your thermostat, completing online energy audits, and installing alternative energy systems.
The Energy Facility Siting Council, a governor-appointed volunteer council responsible for the review and oversight of large-scale energy facilities, currently has one vacancy. Submit an interest form through the Governor's office, and contact Todd Cornett, ODOE's Assistant Director for Siting and the Council Secretary, with questions.
COVID-19 continues to influence how Oregonians live their daily lives. ODOE's Salem office remains closed to public walk-in traffic through at least December 31, but our services remain available. ODOE meetings are being held remotely. Keep an eye on our online calendar for meeting notices and how to participate.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Arlington Landfill Public Meetings | September 30, 2020 | Via Webinar and in Arlington, OR
Oregon Energy Code Stakeholder Panel | October 21, 2020 | Via Webinar
Energy Facility Siting Council | October 22-23, 2020 | Via Webinar
Oregon Global Warming Commission | October 30, 2020 | Via Webinar