Community Solar in Oregon · 2019. 11. 5. · EQ Research, LLC Oregon Solar Energy Industries...

Community Solar in OregonDesign and Outlook

October 18, 2019

Charlie Coggeshall

EQ Research, LLC

Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association

Coalition for Community Solar Access

Community Solar – How it Works

SEPA

Program Design - Big Picture

• Legislation passed in 2016 (SB 1547)

• Rules adopted June 2017 (860-088-00100)

• 160+ MW in “initial capacity tier”

• PGE – 93MW; PAC – 63MW; IDP – 3MW

• Projects limited to 25 kW - 3 MW in size

• Project Manager eligibility

• Third-party developers and utilities

Program Implementation: Remaining Timeline

Policy Elements• October 22 - Staff and Stakeholders make case for policy elements at PUC public meeting• October 29 - PUC special meeting to deliberate and decide policy issues

Program Implementation Manual (PIM)• November 18 - A final draft of the PIM is posted for public comment and PUC review• December 3 – Staff present PIM to PUC (opportunity for stakeholder comment)

Program Launch (target)• (September 30 – Project Manager Registration open)• December 4 - Program opens the pre-certification application website• December 16 - Project Managers may start submitting pre-certification applications

Customer Participation

• All customer types eligible, but: • At least 50% of project capacity reserved

for residential and/or small commercial• At least 10% of project capacity reserved

for low-income customers• Min. 20% subscription discount

• Participation options:• Direct ownership• Subscription (minimum 10 years)

• Individual limits:• Cannot exceed avg. annual usage,

and ≤ 40% of project capacity• 2 MW max. for one customer; and

up to 4 MW for “affiliated”

Project Certification Requirements

Pre-Certification

• Project details

• Interconnection documentation (payment submitted for SIS)

• Non-ministerial permits

• Documentation of acquisition approach, proposed marketing materials, low-income strategy, and proposed forms/contracts

Certification

• Minimum 50% subscribed

• At least 5 participants

• Compliance with low-income requirements

• Constructed/inspected

• 6 months to interconnect/operate

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Project Manager Registration

• Available now

• Requires ongoing compliance with “standard of conduct”

Maximum of 18 months

Program Administration

• Program Administrator• Energy Solutions (prime) and ETO (sub)• Develops Implementation Manual • Processes pre-cert. and cert. applications

and provides initial review prior to PUC review

• Facilitates data and financial flow

• Low-income Facilitator• Community Energy Project• Reports to the Program Administrator• Liaison/supporter for program to achieve

low-income targets

• Utilities• Apply credits on participant bills• Receives subscription payments from

participants and passes through to PA

Capacity Allocation & Credit Rate (proposed)

Administrative Costs (proposed)

Utility75% of

Tier (MW)General (MW)

Small or Non-

profit or Gov't

(MW)

Rate ($/kWh)

20-yr

Levelized

(2.18% esc.)

PGE 69.86 52.40 17.47 $ 0.11234 $ 0.13895

PAC 48.45 36.34 12.11 $ 0.09770 $ 0.12084

IPC 2.45 1.84 0.61 $ 0.08480 $ 0.10489

Fee Type/Duration Fee

Application Fee ($/kW-DC) $ 5.00

Ongoing Participant Fee ($/kW-DC/month)

*Note – this is not applied to low-income participants

$ 1.50

Interconnection Proposals

Recommendation #1: Streamlined CSP interconnection process• Process

• Eligible CSP requests will be studied separately from traditional serial queue • Interconnection study would limit scope, comparable to Energy Resource (ER)

• Eligibility criteria• The proposed generator, together with all other interconnected and requested

generation in the local area, is less than 100% of minimum daytime load (MDL) • If MDL is not available for the feeder, use 30% of summer peak load

*Based on 30% screening level - Klamath County has about 30 MW of available capacity, with: 2 feeders that could handle a 2-3 MW project; 13 feeders for 1-2 MW; 7 feeders for 361-999 kW; and 7 feeders for <361 kW

Interconnection Proposals

• Recommendation #2: Initial models for cost-sharing between generators

• Recommendation #3: 360 kW or less to meter on the low side of the transformer

• Recommendation #4: RFI for third-party expert interconnection study review services

• Recommendation #5: Enhanced pre-application report for non-profit/public PMs • Can request 5 sites in single request, at no cost

• Recommendation #6: PacifiCorp to provide additional information on the process to address the backlog of interconnection applications (i.e., outside Recommendation #1)

How to stay involved

• Track the PUC Docket: UM 1930

• Review Draft PIM Chapters and provide comments via the Program Administrator’s Stakeholder Engagement Website -https://orcsplaunch.wordpress.com

• Register to become a Project Manager and learn more about program requirements via the Program website - https://www.oregoncsp.org

• Join OSEIA! We have weekly member updates and a Community Solar Committee that meets bi-monthly. https://www.oseia.org/join We have government and non-profit rates.

Oregon Solar Energy Industries Associationwww.OSEIA.org

Thank You