Author : Sierra Braun

Oregonians can get the benefit of solar power, whether renting or owning

The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved the first three projects to begin operation in Portland General Electric’s (PGE’s) service territory as art of the Community Solar Program at a public meeting on Thursday, February 11, 2021. Project subscribers will see their subscription charges and credits on their PGE electric bills as early as March.

The PUC approved the following Community Solar Projects:

• Dunn Road – A 1.8 megawatt photovoltaic project located north of Sandy in Clackamas County
• Mt. Hope – A 2.5 megawatt photovoltaic project located southwest of Molalla in Clackamas County
• Williams Acres – A 2.5 megawatt photovoltaic project located east of Woodburn in Marion County

“This is an important milestone to enable more Oregonians, regardless if they rent or own a home, to access solar generation through projects of their choice,”

– Megan Decker, PUC Chair 

For additional information about the Oregon Community Solar Program, including subscribing to one of the three approved projects ready for operation or numerous pre-certified projects under construction, visit www.oregoncsp.org or call 800-481-0510.

Read the PUC’s official press release here.
 
Please send your Oregon Community Solar Program questions, comments and feedback to: [email protected].

The Oregon Public Utility Commission recently approved Commission Order 20-387, which temporarily waives, for 12 months, the requirement in the Oregon Community Solar Program Implementation Manual that a Project Manager must subscribe 10% of a project’s capacity to low income customers prior to certification, and instead requires Project Managers to meet the project’s low-income subscription requirement within 12 months after project certification, or be subject to a penalty.

Per the Commission Order, PUC Staff requests stakeholder comment and feedback on the proposed penalty. The penalty proposal is linked here, will be posted to the ORCSP website, and will be posted to the UM 1930 docket.

Please send all comments to [email protected] no later than January 28, 2021. Be advised stakeholder comments will be posted to the UM 1930 docket and the ORCSP website.

Questions can be directed to Kacia Brockman, [email protected].

Thank you,
Program Administrator

On 1/12/2021, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved revisions to the Oregon Community Solar Program Implementation Manual. The updated changes included but were not limited to:

• Clarification to Project Manager Definition
• Project Manager Marketing Disclaimer Language Update
• Alternative Payment of Program Fees update
• Correction to Bill Crediting Rules and Annual Bill Credit Reconciliation Policy

 Project Managers are encouraged to carefully consider the appropriate subscription size for their customers and may adjust subscription sizes at any time to avoid customer oversubscription payments, so long as this is consistent with participant contracts. The Program Administrator will review the process for monitoring consumption and adjusting subscription sizes for new customers during the next Project Manager workshop scheduled for early March.

The new Program Implementation Manual can be found on the Program Implementation Manual page. 

Program Administrator

Project Managers,

For your reference, the following version of the Program Implementation Manual includes the final redlines resulting from comments we received from and meetings we held with Project Managers, stakeholders, and the utilities in Q4 2020. As a reminder, we emailed you the updated language in Section 6.3—relating to the annual reconciliation process and treatment of oversubscribed capacity—on December 18, 2020 for your review.

• Program Implementation Manual v20191226 with Updated Revisions

This new version will be presented to the Oregon Public Utility Commission for approval on 1/12/2021. If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].

Thank you,
Program Administrator

The following is the updated Program Implementation Manual which includes new language to describe the most recent program developments and policy requirements.

• Program Implementation Manual v20191226 with Revisions

If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to [email protected].

Thank you,
Program Administrator

(Originally posted 10/2/20; Updated 11/4/20)

OPUC Staff is requesting, by October 13, 2020, stakeholder feedback on proposed revisions to the Community Solar Program (CSP) Program Implementation Manual (PIM). 

Background

The PIM is an outward-facing document that explains program participation requirements for Project Managers and Participants. The PIM is necessarily subject to revisions over time as new issues arise and are resolved throughout program implementation. The PIM was last updated on December 23, 2019. The Program Administration Team is now recommending another PIM update to memorialize decisions made during the past nine months of program implementation, as well as to correct and clarify existing language in the PIM. The program is seeking public comment on the proposed PIM revisions. For your review, the proposed revisions appear as redlines in the version of the PIM linked below. The revisions are summarized on page 2 of the document:

Proposed Revisions to the PIM

Next steps 

Staff requests that stakeholders email comments on the proposed PIM revisions to the following two email addresses no later than October 13, 2020. All stakeholder comments will be posted to the CSP website. 

[email protected] 
[email protected]

The PIM revisions will be presented to the Commission for approval as early as the November 3, 2020, public meeting.

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10/21/20 Update:

Stakeholder feedback submitted in response to Program Implementation Manual Revisions

The Program Administrator’s proposed changes to the Program Implementation Manual Revisions was posted to the UM 1930 Docket on 9/29/2020. The Program Administrator requested stakeholders to provide comments and feedback to the proposed revisions. Below are the comments submitted by the following stakeholders

• Portland General Electric
• Pacific Power

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11/4/20 Update: 

Updated Program Implementation Manual Released

The Program Administrator requested stakeholders to provide comments and feedback to proposed changes to the Program Implementation Manual revisions. After considering all posted comments and feedback the Program Administrator has revised the Program Implementation Manual accordingly. The updated version of the manual is posted here.

The Oregon Community Solar Program Administrator has selected an interconnection consultant, EN Engineering, who is now able to provide 3^rd party interconnection reviewer services to Project Managers. Project Managers may request either a standard or enhanced review of interconnection study results ahead of implementing a CSP project, with standard reviews partially paid for by the CSP Program. The OPUC staff report outlines the interconnection services EN Engineering can provide to Project Managers.

To request interconnection reviewer services, please contact [email protected].

Visit the Project Manager Resources page for more interconnection resources, such as:

• Interconnection Guide – Walks Project Managers through the process of sizing, prepping the interconnection package, and the entire interconnection preview process
• PGE’s Eligible Feeder Capacity
• PAC’s Eligible Feeder Capacity

Thank you,
The Oregon Community Solar Program Administration Team