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 77

                         Senate Bill 995

Sponsored by Senators KRUSE, EDWARDS (Presession filed.)

                             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.

  Allows facilities that generate electricity by using biomass or
combusting municipal solid waste to comply with renewable
portfolio standard under certain conditions. Specifies conditions
under which State Department of Energy may certify facilities as
eligible for renewable energy certificates.
  Authorizes full recovery of costs by public utilities in
prudent energy investments related to planning, financing,
construction and operation of hydrogen power stations.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to 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) - }
 { + (6) + }, 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.
   { +  (5)(a) Electricity from a generating facility that uses
biomass and that became operational before January 1, 1995, and
is located in this state may be used to comply with a renewable
portfolio standard if the facility meets the requirements to
qualify under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
(P.L. 95-617) on the effective date of this 2010 Act whether
currently acknowledged as qualified by the Public Utility
Commission or not.
  (b) The amount of generating capacity eligible to receive
renewable energy certificates generated by all facilities
qualified under paragraph (a) of this subsection may not exceed
100 megawatts in any calendar year. If the total amount of
generating capacity generated by all facilities qualified under
paragraph (a) of this subsection is greater than 100 megawatts in
a calendar year, then each generator shall be eligible to receive
certificates for the proportion of total generating capacity
generated by the facility, multiplied by 100 megawatts.
  (c) Renewable energy certificates derived from electricity
generated by a facility qualifying under paragraph (a) of this
subsection may not be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard prior to January 1, 2015. However, renewable energy
certificates issued prior to January 1, 2015, may be banked under
ORS 469A.005 to 469A.210 for use on or after January 1, 2015.
  (d) If the owner or operator of a generating facility
qualifying under paragraph (a) of this subsection makes
cumulative investments in the generating facility between January
1, 2007, and January 1, 2020, equal to at least 80 percent of the
2007 real market value of the generating facility, then the
generating facility shall be classified as having become
operational on or after January 1, 1995, for the purposes of this
section.
  (e) After January 1, 2020, electricity from a generating
facility that uses biomass and became operational before January
1, 1995, may not be used to comply with a renewable portfolio
standard.
  (6) A facility generating electricity from direct combustion of
municipal solid waste that became operational prior to January 1,
1995, and is located in this state may be used to comply with a
renewable portfolio standard for up to 11 average megawatts of
electricity generated per year. Renewable energy certificates
derived from electricity generated by a facility qualifying under
this subsection may not be used to comply with a renewable
portfolio standard prior to January 1, 2015. However, renewable
energy certificates issued prior to January 1, 2015, may be
banked under ORS 469A.005 to 469A.210 for use on or after January
1, 2015. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + To facilitate the creation of hydrogen power
stations using anhydrous ammonia as a fuel source to comply with
the renewable portfolio standards under ORS 469A.005 to 469A.210,
the Public Utility Commission may allow full recovery of costs by
public utilities in prudent energy investments related to the
planning, financing, construction and operation of hydrogen power
stations. These investments include, but are not limited to:
  (1) Systems designed to synthesize anhydrous ammonia fuel using
electricity generated from renewable energy sources listed in ORS
469A.025;
  (2) Infrastructure designed to store anhydrous ammonia
generated from renewable energy sources as a nonpolluting fuel
for electric power generation and for other purposes;
  (3) Energy systems designed to use anhydrous ammonia generated
from renewable energy sources as a fuel to generate electric
power; and
  (4) Electronic control and management systems designed to
effectively integrate hydrogen power station processes into the
electric power grid. + }
  SECTION 3. 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) Direct combustion of municipal solid waste in a
generating facility located in this state may be used to comply
with a renewable portfolio standard. The qualification of a
municipal solid waste facility for use in compliance with a
renewable portfolio standard has no effect on the qualification
of such a facility for a tax credit under ORS 469.185 to 469.225
as such qualification existed prior to the effective date of this
2010 Act. + }
    { - (5) - }   { + (6) + } 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) 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 is not subject to the requirements of subsection (4)
of this section.
    { - (6) - }   { + (7) + } Electricity generated from hydrogen
gas { + , including electricity generated by hydrogen power
stations using anhydrous ammonia as a fuel source, + }
 { - 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  { + if:
  (a) The energy is derived from:

  (A) Any source of energy described in subsections (1) and (2)
of this section; or
  (B) A hydroelectric facility that complies with subsection (4)
of this section and is from a certified low-impact hydroelectric
facility described in ORS 469A.020 (4); and
  (b) The output of the original source of energy is not also
used to comply with the renewable portfolio standard + }.
    { - (7) - }   { + (8) + } 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) - }   { + (7) + } of this section may be used to comply
with a renewable portfolio standard.
    { - (8) - }   { + (9) + } 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 4.  { + The State Department of Energy may certify as
eligible for renewable energy certificates a facility that
becomes qualified under the amendments to ORS 469A.020 and
469A.025 by sections 1 and 3 of this 2010 Act only for
electricity generated on or after January 1, 2012. + }
  SECTION 5.  { + (1) To be eligible for receipt of renewable
energy certificates, the owner or operator of a generating
facility eligible to receive renewable energy certificates under
the amendments to ORS 469A.020 by section 1 of this 2010 Act must
register the generating facility with the Western Renewable
Energy Generation Information System or other regional system or
trading program designated by the State Department of Energy
prior to April 1, 2011.
  (2) The department shall calculate each eligible generating
facility's share of the capacity allowed under ORS 469A.020 as
amended by section 1 of this 2010 Act based upon the generating
facility's generating capacity filed under subsection (1) of this
section. For the purposes of certifying a facility output as
eligible for a renewable portfolio standard, the department may
also factor in the ratio of the total generation during the most
recent year of operation of all facilities that have registered
under subsection (1) of this section to a target of 100 average
megawatts of generated electricity per year. + }
  SECTION 6.  { + If this 2010 Act is declared unconstitutional,
it is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that all sections
amended or repealed by this 2010 Act shall remain in effect the
same as if this 2010 Act had not been enacted. + }
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