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