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A scaled-down program that will replace the current conservation and generation was passed by the Oregon House of Representatives this morning with a vote of 57-2.

extends the sunset date of the tax credit programs that are designed to support development in the green technology sector in Oregon. The bill’s passage comes after many months of lobbying on behalf of renewable energy companies concerned that the end of the credits could slow or stop the momentum of Oregon’s clean energy sector.

The BETC program is expensive and has been criticized for incentivizing projects that would have happened anyway. Under the current BETC program, renewable energy projects are eligible for tax credits up to the amount of 50 percent of a project’s cost. Under the new program, there are significant cutbacks.

The generation tax credit program is 鈥渄ramatically different鈥� under the new legislation, according to Rep. Jules Bailey, D-Portland. The new 鈥淕ennie鈥� is a cash grant pilot program, limited to $250,000 per grant and capped at $3 million for the biennium. 鈥淕ennie鈥� programs will only be granted to projects generating 35 megawatts or less.

鈥�(Gennie) will incent the kind of small and community-scale projects that these grants will really make a difference on,鈥� Bailey said.

The conservation tax credit will see less dramatic changes in the new program, but Bailey said the legislature ramped up the standards for the kind of projects that will be eligible.

鈥淵ou can’t just install something that would pay for itself within a year without the credit,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥�(Awarded projects) will go above and beyond, have at least a 3-year payback and be a high energy saver.鈥�

The conservation tax credit program will be allocated a maximum of $28 million for the biennium. Both programs will sunset in 2018.

HB 3672 will next head to the state senate and may be heard as early as this afternoon, Bailey said.