Energy Facility Siting Spotlight: Process Improvements
Since 1975, Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council has been reviewing, approving, and decommissioning state-jurisdiction energy facilities across the state – including wind, solar, natural gas, and other energy generation facilities that help keep power running in Oregon homes and businesses. Over the past five decades, the process has evolved to better respond to Oregon’s energy needs and priorities, including updating administrative rules, improved methods to submit public comments, creating new materials like flyers and videos to support public involvement, and more.
The Oregon Department of Energy’s facility siting division, which staffs EFSC, leads process improvement initiatives that will ensure the siting process remains relevant, timely, and responsive to Oregon’s needs.
One area of improvement identified by ODOE staff is offering helpful information in a new way. For people who are visual learners, the siting team is working on creating video tutorials describing aspects of the siting process. The team published a video featuring the Oregon Renewable Energy Siting Assessment mapping and reporting tool earlier this year, and will work on an updated tutorial soon to reflect the latest version of ORESA. On deck are future tutorials on how to submit public comments online, how to generally engage with the public process, and more.
ODOE partnered with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to amend Division 35 rules to make it easier for solar generation facilities to demonstrate compliance with noise regulations, enabling them to comply in the same way wind facilities do. This means allowing an assumed ambient background noise of 26 decibels unless evidence shows the background level is higher. It also allows a willing landowner where the facility will be sited to waive the ambient noise degradation standard for their property. This change is designed to streamline the site certificate process for new proposed solar facilities in Oregon.
In March 2025, EFSC adopted new rules for the facility application process to ensure applications more clearly reflect how Oregon’s siting standards are being met. Exhibits will be renamed to make it easier for all parties to understand where relevant application information is located so the review process is more efficient.
ODOE and EFSC are currently conducting a rulemaking to improve the Site Certificate amendment process, making it more efficient and effective while ensuring adequate public participation. For example, the challenging contested case process will be replaced by a new process that provides the public with quicker feedback on their comments.
To make administrative rulemaking efforts and processes clearer, ODOE’s team will be reviewing and improving how information is organized on ODOE’s website to focus more on the user experience.
ODOE will also work to implement House Bill 3681, which was passed by the Oregon Legislature earlier this year. The bill came from a work group focused on how to make it easier to site energy transmission projects. The bill requires EFSC to make every effort to conclude a contested case proceeding and issue a final order within a year of proposed order, and requires final orders to include findings from contested cases. The bill also allows a Site Certificate holder to request a change in site boundary without needing to complete a request for an Amendment, among other modest changes. (Read more in our 2025 Legislative Session Report.)
In support of compliance efforts, the team will refine the annual compliance reporting process to ensure sites know how to properly submit information, the ODOE team can track issues over each year, and relevant facility data is clearly presented.
ODOE also plans to update the applicant guide to make it more user friendly and easier to digest. One goal is to include a checklist of required information in addition to helpful tips for navigating the application process.
To better support new Energy Facility Siting Council members, the team will update an onboarding guide to make sure it’s a useful tool for new members to hit the ground running.
Internal process improvements will also focus on: auditing desk manuals to make sure they are accurate and current, identifying a plan for converting old cassette tape recordings to digital format, and bolstering project management skills and tools for the team.
Check out a process improvement plan that was shared during the July 2025 Energy Facility Siting Council meeting to learn more about initiatives underway or on the horizon, and visit ODOE’s website to learn more about the facility siting process in Oregon.