Bill Text: OR HB3649 | 2010 | 1st Special Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to electricity from low-impact hydroelectric facilities that may be used to comply with renewable portfolio standards.

Spectrum: Unknown

Status: (Passed) 2010-03-18 - Chapter 71, (2010 Laws): Effective date January 1, 2011. [HB3649 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2010-HB3649-Introduced.html

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     75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2010 Special Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 109

                         House Bill 3649

Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NATURAL RESOURCES AND
  RURAL COMMUNITIES

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Modifies provisions related to qualifying electricity for
purposes of compliance with renewable portfolio standard.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to electricity from low-impact hydroelectric facilities
  that may be used to comply with renewable portfolio standards;
  creating new provisions; and amending ORS 469A.020 and
  469A.025.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 469A.020 is amended to read:
  469A.020. (1) Except as provided in this section, electricity
may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard only if
the electricity is generated by a facility that becomes
operational on or after January 1, 1995.
  (2) Electricity from a generating facility, other than a
hydroelectric facility, that became operational before January 1,
1995, may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard
if the electricity is attributable to capacity or efficiency
upgrades made on or after January 1, 1995.
  (3) Electricity from a hydroelectric facility that became
operational before January 1, 1995, may be used to comply with a
renewable portfolio standard if the electricity is attributable
to efficiency upgrades made on or after January 1, 1995. If an
efficiency upgrade is made to a Bonneville Power Administration
facility, only that portion of the electricity generation
attributable to Oregon's share of the electricity may be used to
comply with a renewable portfolio standard.
  (4) Subject to the limit imposed by ORS 469A.025 (5),
electricity from a hydroelectric facility   { - that is owned by
an electric utility and - }  that became operational before
January 1, 1995, may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard if the facility is certified as a low-impact
hydroelectric facility on or after January 1, 1995, by a national
certification organization recognized by the State Department of
Energy by rule { + , and if the facility is either:
  (a) Owned by an electric utility; or
  (b) Not owned by an electric utility and located in Oregon and
licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the
Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791a et seq., or exempt from such
license + }.
  SECTION 2. ORS 469A.025 is amended to read:
  469A.025. (1) Electricity generated utilizing the following
types of energy may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard:
  (a) Wind energy.
  (b) Solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy.
  (c) Wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy.
  (d) Geothermal energy.
  (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section,
electricity generated from biomass and biomass by-products may be
used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard, including but
not limited to electricity generated from:
  (a) Organic human or animal waste;
  (b) Spent pulping liquor;
  (c) Forest or rangeland woody debris from harvesting or
thinning conducted to improve forest or rangeland ecological
health and to reduce uncharacteristic stand replacing wildfire
risk;
  (d) Wood material from hardwood timber grown on land described
in ORS 321.267 (3);
  (e) Agricultural residues;
  (f) Dedicated energy crops; and
  (g) Landfill gas or biogas produced from organic matter,
wastewater, anaerobic digesters or municipal solid waste.
  (3) Electricity generated from the direct combustion of biomass
may not be used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard if
any of the biomass combusted to generate the electricity
includes:
  (a) Municipal solid waste; or
  (b) Wood that has been treated with chemical preservatives such
as creosote, pentachlorophenol or chromated copper arsenate.
  (4) Electricity generated by a hydroelectric facility may be
used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard only if:
  (a) The facility is located outside any protected area
designated by the Pacific Northwest Electric Power and
Conservation Planning Council as of July 23, 1999, or any area
protected under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Public
Law 90-542, or the Oregon Scenic Waterways Act, ORS 390.805 to
390.925; or
  (b) The electricity is attributable to efficiency upgrades made
to the facility on or after January 1, 1995.
  (5) { + (a) + } Up to 50 average megawatts of electricity per
year generated by an electric utility from certified low-impact
hydroelectric facilities described in ORS 469A.020
(4) { + (a) + } may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard, without regard to the number of certified facilities
operated by the electric utility or the generating capacity of
those facilities. A hydroelectric facility described in this
 { - subsection - }   { + paragraph + } is not subject to the
requirements of subsection (4) of this section.
   { +  (b) Up to 40 average megawatts of electricity per year
generated by certified low-impact hydroelectric facilities
described in ORS 469A.020 (4)(b) may be used to comply with a
renewable portfolio standard, without regard to the number of
certified facilities or the generating capacity of those
facilities. A hydroelectric facility described in this paragraph
is not subject to the requirements of subsection (4) of this
section. + }
  (6) Electricity generated from hydrogen gas derived from any
source of energy described in subsections (1) to (5) of this
section may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard.
  (7) If electricity generation employs multiple energy sources,
that portion of the electricity generated that is attributable to
energy sources described in subsections (1) to (6) of this

section may be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard.
  (8) The State Department of Energy by rule may approve energy
sources other than those described in this section that may be
used to comply with a renewable portfolio standard. The
department may not approve petroleum, natural gas, coal or
nuclear fission as an energy source that may be used to comply
with a renewable portfolio standard.
  SECTION 3.  { + The amendments to ORS 469A.020 and 469A.025 by
sections 1 and 2 of this 2010 Act apply to electricity generated
on or after January 1, 2011. + }
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