AUGUST 2008: AROUND THE STATE
PacifiCorp loses solar
battle
PORTLAND
Oregon’s burgeoning solar industry is back in business
after a regulatory scuffle with PacifiCorp that jeopardized the
future of $40 million worth of new solar installations
statewide.
PacifiCorp filed a brief with the Oregon Public Utilities
Commission in June seeking clarification on rules governing
third-party-owned solar installations, in which companies build
and operate photovoltaic systems on property owned by a
municipality or nonprofit and sell excess power back to the
grid.
The filing touched off a panic within the industry because
third-party installations are widely considered an essential
model for affordable solar projects, with giants such as
Honeywell, SunEdison and RC Solar planning to invest millions
in Oregon.
PacifiCorp spokesman Art Sasse emphasized that the goal was not
to hinder progress but to establish clear rules regarding a
development model that is growing in popularity. Critics
accused PacifiCorp of creating uncertainty at a key moment for
solar, with federal tax breaks scheduled to expire at the end
of 2007.
A phalanx of clean-energy companies and trade groups lined up
with government agencies and Oregon’s largest utility,
Portland General Electric, to intervene in favor of third-party
ownership deals. The interveners breathed a collective sigh of
relief on July 14 after PUC attorney Michael Weirich opined
that third-party owners are not electricity service suppliers,
meaning they need not face the same burdensome regulations as
do utilities. The PUC had not ruled by press time, but the
ruling was widely expected to follow the staff opinion.
“We got everything we wanted out of that brief,”
said Craig Ernst of the Oregon Solar Energy Industry
Association. “It was a huge relief.”
It was also a blow to PacifiCorp, which was bought out by
Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings in 2006 and
is also facing controversy over its dams on the Klamath River.
In spite of the backlash, Sasse says PacifiCorp does not regret
the move.
“We would do it every time,” he says. “Our
industry is highly regulated. You have to follow the rules and
you have to know what the rules are. Every marketplace needs
clarity.”
BEN JACKLET
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