10YEP Talking Points OREPv4

							   TALKING POINTS FOR TEN YEAR ENERGY PLAN PUBLIC COMMENTS –
                            PUBLIC HEARINGS
           Compiled by Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy –
                       info@OregonRenewables.com
  These comments focus on the Resource Mix (Energy Generation) portion of the
                                   Plan.

The Draft Plan contains admirable plans to meet 85% of additional energy demand
with energy efficiency and Oregon’s RPS requires utilities to meet 25% of new
generation from renwables by 2025, but it does not describe clearly how to replace
the 55% of Oregon’s energy still generated from imported fossil fuels. We
recommend the Plan be amended to:

  1) Reflect an Urgent Time Horizon: ASAP, Oregon must address costly climate
     change disruption and stimulate Oregon’s economy by replacing imported
     fossil fuels in our energy mix with “made in Oregon” clean energy. Protecting
     our kids’ future cannot wait.

  2) Position the Ten Year Plan Within a Larger, Longer-Term Goal: Oregon should
     be planning now for the day when at least 80% or as much as 100% of our
     energy needs can be met by “made-in Oregon” clean “no-fuel cost” energy
     sources. We recommend adopting at minimum the “80% by 2050” goal
     suggested by the US Dept of Energy’s National Renewable Energy
     Laboratories (NREL). The 10YEP should meet milestones on that path to
     2050.

  3) Keep Energy Dollars In Oregon: Re-circulate the $8B energy dollars we now
     send out of state to import fossil fuel energy. Keep them here in Oregon by
     paying Oregonians to produce “made in Oregon” clean energy. Oregon has no
     fossil fuels to develop. Clean energy in Oregon means “made in Oregon"
     energy

  4) Create Low, Stable Energy Rates: To ensure low, stable rates in the long run
     we should replace the price-volatile portion of Oregon’s energy mix – the 55%
     currently generated from imported fossil fuels - with “made in Oregon” clean
     energy resources that have no ongoing fuel cost. Historically Oregon’s energy
     rates have been kept low by the large amount (42%) of homegrown “no-fuel
     cost” hydroelectric generation in our energy mix. We should plan now for the
     day when 80-100% of our energy comes from homegrown, clean “no-fuel cost”
     energy in order to retain our competitive energy cost position.

  5) Adopt CLEAN Energy Contracts (Feed-In Tariffs) for “Made-in-Oregon”
     Energy: Rapidly increase “made in Oregon” clean energy by allowing all
   Oregonians who can produce clean energy to sign a simple contract with their
   utility that pays them a fair price for all they produce. Oregon will benefit most
   when Oregonians produce, own, sell, invest in and build out our clean energy
   infrastructure. CLEAN Energy Contracts fully engage Oregonians in building
   our energy future.

6) Improve the Solar Pilot Program and Extend to Other Renewables: The
   popular Solar Pilot Program that pays solar PV owners a fixed price for their
   energy should be improved to enable producers to get paid for all the energy
   they produce, and not be limited to their onsite usage; and extended to other
   renewable technologies and all Oregonians. We are pleased to see that on
   Page 39 of the Plan, in the Next Steps table, the "Solar Rate Pilot" (Oregon's
   popular 25MW pilot that pays producers a fixed price per kWh for rooftop solar
   electricity they feed into the grid, but nothing for any energy that exceeds what
   they consume) gets a YES under recommended legislation. The pilot program
   has been a good start but needs to be improved so: 1) producers can sell all
   their energy; 2) all forms of renewables are covered, not just solar; and 3)
   utility customers all across Oregon can participate, not just customers of
   investor-owned utilities.

7) Not Pay For Clean Energy With General Fund Revenues: Increasing clean
   “made-in Oregon” energy should not be done by firing teachers. Energy tax
   credits are unstable and inequitable as a funding source. If we are to scale up
   clean energy, we must pay for clean energy the way we pay for dirty energy, in
   our electric rates, with costs spread out over time and with rate impact
   protections for low-income ratepayers and industrial users. Rate impact will
   soon be cushioned as we reap the benefit of more and more fuel-free energy
   flowing into the grid. Germany is already seeing 10-40% drops in energy prices
   due to all the solar on the grid, only a decade into its feed-in tariff program. The
   Plan calls for creating a new regional infrastructure bank to make financing
   clean energy projects easier. It fails to address how these loans will be paid
   back. A cost-effective production based system like a feed-in tariff pays for
   clean energy generation over time.

8) Go Directly to Clean Energy, No Stop At Natural Gas: Oregon should not
   spend general fund or ratepayer dollars to build natural gas infrastructure as a
   bridge to clean energy merely because it is temporarily cheaper. Instead,
   invest directly in clean energy infrastructure to bring the benefit of its lack of an
   ongoing fuel cost to ratepayers ASAP.

9) Energy Prices Must Reflect Indirect Costs: Give the Oregon Public Utilities
   Commission the flexibility to define “least cost” energy so it includes all of the
   costs associated with an energy source, including environmental costs and
health costs associated with dirty fuels and the benefits to the energy system,
the environment and the state's economy from clean energy sources. Recent
changes in federal energy law make this possible. Oregon should be an early
adopter of these new opportunities.