2022 Low-Income Program Survey Results
Results from the 2022 annual Oregon Community Solar Follow-Up Survey are available. As our Low-Income Facilitator, Community Energy Project (CEP) surveyed participants who are active in the program (“Active”), as well as a selection of participants who have been assigned to projects that have not yet started generating energy (“Assigned”).
CEP conducts surveys in order to gauge the success of the program and identify opportunities for improvement within the low-income carve-out. Surveys were conducted electronically and over the phone. View a summary of responses at the link below.
Staff Proposal Adopted—September 21, 2021.
Hello Oregon Community Solar Stakeholders,
On September 21, 2021, the Oregon Public Utility Commission staff approved a proposal expanding the Oregon Community Solar Program.
Schedule:
| Date | Item |
| July 16, 2021 | Staff publish draft proposal for public comment |
| July 30, 2021 | Written public comment on draft proposal due |
| Aug. 26, 2021 | Special Public Meeting for Commissioners to discuss draft proposal and hear oral comments from stakeholders |
| Sep. 16, 2021 | Staff published final proposal for Commission decision |
| Sep. 21, 2021 | Commission decisions approves Staff proposal and expands the Program |
The Commission approved the six major policy decisions:
- Open the 79 MW remaining in the initial capacity tier to new projects in Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power (PAC) territory.
- Require a minimum of 50 percent of a project’s capacity be allocated to residential customers, inclusive of the minimum 10 percent allocated to low-income residential customers.
- Require a Project Manager’s subscription fee for low-income participants be set at least 40 percent below the bill credit rate.
- Set the residential bill credit rate for 2022 equal to the 2021 bill credit rate currently in effect and set the non-residential bill credit rate for 2022 at 90 percent of the residential bill credit rate.
- Add a two percent escalation rate to the PGE and PAC residential and nonresidential bill credit rates beginning after 2022.
- Carve out 25 percent of the remaining capacity for exclusive use by community-based projects, to be defined in the PIM, and apply policies adopted herein to any carve-out capacity from the interim capacity tier not yet allocated to pre-certified projects.
Associated revisions to the Program Implementation Manual (PIM) and the CSP rules are forthcoming. Stakeholders will be notified when the redlined PIM is available for review and comments.
Staff contacts:
Joe Abraham, [email protected], 503-428-0699.
August Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during through August 2021.
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released October 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
July Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during through July 2021.
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released August 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
May Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during the month of May (5/1/2021 – 5/31/2021).
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released June 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
Public Workshop on June 4, 2021
Oregon Community Solar Stakeholders,
On June 4, 2021, from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., the Oregon Community Solar Program Administrator and OPUC staff are conducting a public workshop to receive stakeholder input on the next phase of the Community Solar Program. Workshop information, including instructions for joining, are available at this link.
To prepare for the workshop, we are asking stakeholders to view our Program Snapshot and to consider the following questions and come prepared to share insights and opinions. The prompts suggest various program design ideas for consideration, but we encourage stakeholders to suggest other ideas that may not be listed.
If you are unable to attend the workshop or would like to submit written comments, we ask you to email your responses to [email protected] by June 3, 2021.
April Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during the month of April (4/1/2021 – 4/30/2021).
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released May 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
March Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during the month of March (3/1/2021 – 3/31/2021).
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released April 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
February Low-Income Updates
The following is the Low-Income Recruitment Report that summarizes Low-Income Facilitator and Project Manager recruitment efforts, program development updates, waitlist management, and general policy updates that have occurred during the month of February (2/1/2021 – 2/28/2021).
- Low Income Recruitment Report – Released March 2021
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please reach out to [email protected].
Thank you,
Program Administrator
Update on Oregon Community Solar Bill Credit Rates
Oregon Community Solar Stakeholders,
On February 23, 2021, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) adopted Staff’s recommendation to extend the 2020 Community Solar Program bill credit rates in PGE, Pacific Power and Idaho Power territories. The 2020 bill credit rates will be in effect for projects that are pre-certified within the remainder of the interim capacity tier or until January 31, 2022. The release of new program capacity will be subject to new bill credit rates.
Additional details can be found in OPUC Order 21-071.
Current bill credit rates for the interim capacity tier can be found on the Project Manager Resources page of the program website.
Thank you,
Program Administrator
Questions?
Contact the Oregon Community Solar Program Administrator Team at [email protected].