Portland General Electric will build two solar projects in Eastern Oregon to meet growing demand from data center operators, the utility announced Tuesday.

PGE will spend approximately $540 million on a 125-megawatt solar facility and a 125-megawatt battery energy storage system in Sherman County. And in Morrow County, PGE will invest approximately $490 million in a 240-megawatt solar facility and a 125-megawatt battery system.

“We’re advancing critical infrastructure investments that will support economic development, both in Oregon and in Washington, and builds on a base of growing data center and high-tech customers,” PGE CEO Maria Pope said in a conference call on Tuesday.

The announcement came as PGE reported fourth-quarter and annual results. The utility is publicly traded under the stock symbol “POR.” PGE stock slipped 2.7 percent on Tuesday.

PGE also revealed a major acquisition, saying it would acquire PacifiCorp‘s Washington utility operations for $1.9 billion, in a deal financed in a partnership with Manulife Investment Management. PGE will manage the Washington utilities as a newly formed subsidiary regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

“In this time of unprecedented electricity demand, PGE’s commitment to the Pacific Northwest and our excellent service and energy infrastructure will benefit Central and Southeastern Washington,” Pope said.

Construction of the new solar projects will begin this year; they’re slated to come online by the end of 2027, Pope said. They are eligible for federal tax credits between 30 percent and 40 percent, she added.

PGE is also moving forward with last year’s request for proposals for new generation resources, and a short list will be submitted to the Oregon Public Utility Commission this week, said Joseph Trpik, PGE’s chief financial officer.

The Portland-based utility’s large customer group — such as industrial users, including data centers — is expected to grow by 10 percent annually through 2030, Pope said.

Utilities nationwide have come under public pressure as data centers’ voracious appetites for power have caused residential rates to soar. In a nod to rising prices, Pope said PGE’s tariff proposal includes a 25 percent price hike for data center customers, which is expected to “reduce residential and small business customer prices.”

Data centers now account for about 6 percent of PGE’s total customer load, Pope said.

PGE’s total load increased 3.8 percent in 2025, and 4.7 percent in weather-adjusted terms. The industrial load jumped 14 percent, while the residential load fell 1.8 percent.

Trpik attributed the load increase to “diverse and growing data center and high-tech customers.” Warm weather in the fourth quarter weakened overall demand, he said.

The Washington deal will add 140,000 customers around Yakima, Walla Walla and other communities in Central and Southeast Washington, PGE officials said.

“This acquisition is a great fit,” Pope said, calling the deal an “excellent opportunity to expand our service to Washington state and acquire generation, transmission and distribution assets we know very well.”

The acquisition must be approved by regulators in Oregon and Washington. The regulatory process should require 11 to 12 months, Pope said.

The post PGE planning massive solar projects in Eastern Oregon appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

California’s two largest utilities routinely drag their feet connecting solar panels to the electric grid, missing state-mandated deadlines as much as 73 percent of the time, according to a formal complaint submitted by solar advocates.

The complaint filed by a solar energy advocacy group urges the California Public Utilities Commission to hold utilities accountable when they fail to meet such deadlines. The commission is formally reviewing it.

The advocates have complained for years that such delays hinder California’s transition to renewables. State utility regulators are separately revisiting the process for connecting rooftop solar to the grid, including examining whether and how the utility commission should require utilities to comply with the timelines it established years ago.

But the commission has yet to reprimand utilities for regularly missing these deadlines.

“The rule is there, but the commission hasn’t chosen to enforce (it),” said Kevin Luo, policy and market development manager for the California Solar & Storage Association, which filed the complaint.

When Californians add solar panels to their rooftops, they begin a complex “interconnection” process led by the utilities to ensure the array is correctly installed and able to provide power for both the customer and the grid, which receives power the customer does not use. For each interconnection step, the utility is allotted a certain amount of time, ranging from five business days to 90 calendar days.

The timelines for several of the more extensive steps — including design, construction and installation — were clarified in a 2020 decision after solar panel owners complained that California’s major investor-owned utilities were blowing their deadlines.

The delays can have significant financial consequences for panel owners, widening the period after they have laid out money for solar cells but before they see a reduction in their power consumption or payments from selling excess solar power back to utilities.

Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric all report their compliance with these timelines on a quarterly basis. The reporting is for projects over 30 kilowatts, which are often for businesses, not residential homes, and account for most solar projects.

The data show that PG&E and Edison routinely exceed the allotted windows.

In the complaint, filed in late August, the California Solar & Storage Association noted the utilities take longer than permitted to connect customers between 19 percent and 73 percent of the time, depending on which stage of the process is examined.

For example, the utilities are given 10 business days to acknowledge someone’s request for interconnection — PG&E’s median time for this step was 20 days, with its longest being 245 days. One of the most crucial steps is a system impact study, which looks at how the addition of a customer’s solar array will affect the grid and identifies any potential issues with hookup. PG&E kept to its timeline 49 percent of the time, while Edison met its deadline 43 percent of the time, according to the complaint.

San Diego Gas & Electric typically meets its deadlines and wasn’t included in the solar association’s complaint about timeliness.

PG&E spokesperson Mike Gazda responded to the complaint by stating that “PG&E is a strong advocate for solar energy and has interconnected nearly 900,000 solar customers — more than any other U.S. utility — to support customers who have made the choice to go solar, strengthen California’s energy grid and reduce our state’s carbon footprint. We look forward to addressing the latest claims made by (the solar group) through the appropriate regulatory channels.”

Edison spokesperson Jeff Monford said the company takes “complaints seriously and (is) working with the California Public Utilities Commission to thoroughly address any issues related to our interconnection processes.”

Utilities have previously said that delays can be caused by permitting issues, unfamiliar new technologies, or other agencies needing to be involved.

So, what happens when they break the rules?

The utilities commission declined to lay out specific penalties when it clarified the timelines in 2020. It rejected a recommendation from a work group including industry representatives and consumer advocates to “clearly indicate that financial penalties” could happen if a utility fails to meet the timelines on 95 percent of projects.

“The commission must first determine whether timeline certainty is improving,” the decision said. Regulators could set out penalties in the future “if it determines such a construct would support timely interconnection.”

The commission declined to comment because the case is an “ongoing adjudicatory proceeding,” spokesperson Adam Cranfill said.

Without some kind of punishment, advocates argue, there’s not only no incentive for utilities to follow the rules but also a disincentive because of how the money flows.

“From their perspective, solar and storage is competition for them,” Luo said. “Having people with their own solar and storage reduces the need to continually expand the grid and build out transmission lines.”

California’s rooftop solar industry has been mired in controversy in recent years because of the state’s “net energy metering” program, which governs how much utilities are required to pay solar customers for extra energy their panels generate. The program is meant to incentivize adopting renewable energy and offset the significant cost of rooftop solar, but utilities argued it creates an unfair cost burden for those without solar who pay more for costs such as grid maintenance. As a result, the current iteration of the program pays out significantly less than prior versions.

Three environmental groups sued over the change, and the California Supreme Court ruled last month that the lower courts should reexamine the case’s details instead of deferring to utility regulators.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

The post Utilities missing deadlines for solar hookups in California appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Project name: The Gloria CenterLocation: The Dalles

Completion: March 2024

Size: 9,975 square feet

Owner/Developer: Mid-Columbia Community Action Council

Architect: Access Architecture

Interior Designer: Access Architecture

Engineers: Method Landscape Architecture, AKS Engineering & Forestry (the previous Tenneson Engineering office), TM Rippey Consulting Engineers

General Contractor: Bremik Construction

Submitting Company: Bremik Construction

Other Key Partners: City of The Dalles, Housing Development Center

Subcontractors: Andres Landscape, Artistic Excavation, B & T Striping and Curbing, Bend Commercial Glass, Building Specialties Northwest, Center Pointe Signs, Chown Hardware Commercial CabinetWorks, Custom Designed Skylights, Devco Mechanical, Empire Painting, Fire Systems West, GRS Erectors, Hage Electric & Construction Services, HVAC, MB Structures, McDonald & Wetle, Mid Valley Commercial Construction, Mike’s Fence Center, Mission Construction, MLS Interiors dba K&D Window Coverings, Munsen Paving, Northwest Masonry Restoration, Overhead Door Co. of Portland, Rubenstein’s Carpet, Service Partners of Oregon/Silvercote, Standard TV & Appliance, VPI Quality Windows, Web Steel Buildings Northwest

The Gloria Center has opened its doors as a comprehensive hub for homeless and vulnerable residents in the Columbia River Gorge, offering both emergency shelter and centralized support services in one location.

The facility combines a navigation center housing multiple nonprofit agencies with 18 free-standing Pallet shelters providing 36 emergency beds for those experiencing homelessness in Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties.

The navigation center brings together several partner organizations including Oregon Human Development Corporation, Mid-Columbia Center for Living, One Community Health, Nch’I Wana Housing and Bridges to Health. Community members can access housing assistance, behavioral and physical healthcare, utility support, weatherization services, veterans’ programs and employment resources all under one roof.

A distinctive feature of the project is its innovative design using three separate pre-engineered metal buildings seamlessly integrated into a single 10,000-square-foot structure, reducing costs while maintaining architectural integrity. The shelter housing has been arranged into smaller neighborhoods sharing a central community garden, with input from existing shelter residents during the design phase.

Access Architecture’s design prioritized trauma-informed and universal design principles. This is reflected in features such as rounded corners for safety, intuitive wayfinding, a calming color palette and warm wood accents. A dedicated nursing room is included off the employee breakroom to support staff needs. Large windows allow ample daylight and provide a visual connection to the Gorge landscape. Skylights and clerestory windows bring daylight into the building’s core.

The facility emphasizes sustainability with a 97-kilowatt solar array paired with battery storage, which can generate 115,000 kilowatt-hours annually and offset 138,000 pounds of carbon emissions. This system provides approximately 34 percent energy savings and allows the center to function at 90 percent capacity for up to 48 hours during power outages.

Beyond providing everyday services, The Gloria Center serves as an emergency shelter during extreme weather events.

The project resulted from collaboration between Bremik Construction, Access Architecture, Housing Development Center and MCCAC, with support from the City of The Dalles. MCCAC has operated scattered-site shelters for over a decade, but The Gloria Center now provides these services a permanent home.

During the bidding process, Bremik’s preconstruction team leveraged their local expertise and experience from six other projects in the area to achieve a nearly 50 percent local and 22 percent MWESB firm utilization on this project, including installers and suppliers from within a 25-mile-radius of the project site.

The post The Gloria Center appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Project name: Redmond Library

Location: Redmond

Completion: September 2024

Size: 40,000 square feet

Cost: $31.5 million

Owner: Deschutes Public Library

Owner’s Representative: Redpoint Construction Management

Architect: The Miller Hull Partnership, Steele Associates Architects

Interior Designer: The Miller Hull Partnership

Engineers: KPFF, HWA, Interface Engineering

General Contractor: Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Submitting Company: Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Other Associates/Key Consultants: Blanca Lighting Design, Mayer Reed, Morrison Hershfield, Plus and Greater Than, Studio Pacifica, Tenor Engineering Group, Walker Macy

Subcontractors: Advance Cabinet Designs, Advanced Technology Group, Andres Landscape, Apollo Sheet Metal, Beacon Roofing Supply, BrandSafway Services, Building Material Specialties, Ceniga Masonry, Central Oregon Garage Door, Central Oregon Roofing, Deschutes Concrete Construction, Deschutes Painting, Energy Conservation Insulation, Fabulous Floors, Hickman Williams & Associates, Interior Technology, Joni’s Construction Cleaning, Max Manufacturing, Metro Tint, Mike’s Fence Center, Mt. Hood Corps., Northwest Framing Systems, Pacific Decorative Concrete, Phoenix Fire Protection, Rixir Systems, Simple Safety Solutions, Skyline Sheet Metal, SouthTown Glass, StructureCraft Builders, Summers Wood Floor, Sunlight Solar Energy, Terminix, TK Elevator, Tomco Electric, Western Partitions

The new Redmond Library offers residents a state-of-the-art facility that nearly doubles the size of its predecessor while incorporating cutting-edge sustainable design elements.

The two-story, 40,000-square-foot structure stands on the same site as the original library following approval of a Deschutes Public Library bond measure by county voters. The project is part of a larger initiative to renovate existing libraries and construct two new facilities throughout the county.

Designed through a partnership between Seattle-based The Miller Hull Partnership and local firm Steele Associates Architects, the building features an innovative mass timber framework that provides both structural integrity and aesthetic appeal. The use of acoustic dowel-laminated timber sets the project apart. It reduces the need for additional acoustical elements while maintaining the open nature of the spaces.

Brick buildings are a theme throughout the city of Redmond, so the new library is brick-clad but in a darker tone and laid out in a stacked-bond style to set it apart as a modern building.

The library’s distinctive design includes a feature staircase fabricated by Bend’s Max Manufacturing and a large custom sculpture by renowned Pacific Northwest artist John Grade, inspired by Central Oregon sagebrush.

Beyond traditional library services, the facility offers multiple community-focused amenities including multi-purpose spaces, a children’s discovery area, and maker spaces for activities like sewing and 3D printing. Adults and teens can utilize collaborative areas designed for studying and co-working.

For user convenience, the building includes a drive-up window for materials pickup and drop-off during or after library hours.

Sustainability was prioritized throughout construction, with photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof and over parking areas to help the building achieve net-zero energy consumption. The facility is on track for LEED Gold certification, with Platinum certification possible. Additional eco-friendly features include electric vehicle charging stations, ample natural lighting through skylights and clearstory windows, and the elimination of PVC materials outside of mechanical and electrical systems.

Located adjacent to community parks, schools and residential areas, the library is positioned to become a central hub for Redmond residents.

The construction was completed by Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co. in coordination with Redpoint Construction Management and the architectural firms, with all parties citing the high degree of communication and collaboration as key to the project’s success. There was significant local participation on the project, with 60 percent of trade partners from the area.

The post Redmond Library appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Construction of a 130-unit affordable housing development is under way in Hood River. Mariposa Village will consist of six wood-framed residential buildings, plus a community center. There will be a mix of townhouses and multistory multifamily buildings, including one specifically for seniors.

Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation and Community Development Partners are co-developing the project. Holst Architecture designed Mariposa Village and Walsh Construction is the general contractor. The team also includes civil engineer Klein and Associates of Hood River, structural engineer TM Rippey Consulting Engineers, MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) consultant Interface Engineering, and landscape architect PLACE.

After purchasing the 7.25-acre project site, at 780 Rand Road, in 2020 for $1.2 million, the city of Hood River donated it for development through an RFP process. The total development cost will be approximately $74.2 million.

Mariposa Village will include seven studios, 29 one-bedroom units, 48 two-bedroom units and 46 three-bedroom units; all will be for people earning up to 60 percent of area median income. Thirty-nine units will have project-based vouchers from the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, Community Development Partners senior development manager Lucy Corbett said. The vouchers will go to households earning up to 30 percent of AMI.

“The design is intended to create community among residents,” Corbett said.

The community center will have offices for property management and resident services; the latter will be provided by Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation. There will also be a classroom/meeting space and an outdoor patio.

Other site amenities will include a park with a playground and community garden beds. A strong emphasis will be placed on the natural environment by also incorporating trails and protecting the on-site wetlands, Community Development Partners spokesperson Jena Green stated in an email. Two trails will be operated by the city of Hood River and Hood River Valley Parks + Recreation District and be accessible by both Mariposa Village residents and community members.

National Green Building Standard gold certification is being targeted for the project. The community center will be a net-zero energy building with solar panels on its roof. The project team will receive 45L tax credits, because the residential units will meet the Zero Energy Ready Home standard of the Oregon Department of Energy.

Most of the buildings will have fiber-cement siding and gable roofs.

Construction began in late April. A ceremony hailing the start of work is expected to take place late this month. Completion of the first phase is scheduled for July 2026, with the second and final phase to follow by January 2027.

The post Construction of affordable housing project begins in Hood River appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By Grace Fiori
Buffalo’s Fire

WAKPALA, S.D. – On an unseasonably hot day in mid-October, three apprentices learning to install solar panels clambered on the roof of a community building in the small township of Wakpala, on the Standing Rock Reservation. Three weeks into their apprenticeship, they had a practiced ease on the roof as they attached solar panels to anchor points. Before the week was over they moved north on Highway 1806 to install a solar array for the small riverside community of Kenel.

The technicians are part of an run by Lightspring Solar, a solar panel installation company, and the community development corporation for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, , leading renewable energy projects on the reservation.

Great Plains tribes are eager to capitalize on the burgeoning clean energy economy and are creating training programs to empower tribal members. Rather than competing with the region’s dominant wind industry, some tribal communities are focused on solar power programs. By prioritizing local workforce development, they’re reimagining the job site and a utility system rooted in community ownership.

This was the first time the young men had done work like this, and they applied after seeing social media posts from SAGE Development Authority. Besides crawling in some dusty attics and stray wasps, they all agreed hands-on training outweighed a classroom lecture.

“It’s a good crew and I’m learning something new,” Joseph White Mountain III said. He previously worked in oil and gas, and said this job site was much different. That’s largely due to the guidance of Wes Davis, Lightspring’s general manager, who leads the installation crew.

He envisions the job site as “an environment where everybody is part of the process,” he said. “This is something more than just a job. It’s giving back to your community.”

Through tax credits, grants and loan programs, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act provides $369 billion for and climate change mitigation. The IRA makes funding accessible for various organizations —  from local and tribal governments to educational institutions and private businesses. Northern Great Plains states have been notably absent in .

In this region, “Native Americans and Native American tribes are going to lead the effort in the next five years,” when it comes to solar development, said Cody Two Bears, executive director of Indigenized Energy, a nonprofit focused on tribal energy sovereignty. The group says program development and workforce training are essential.

The massive federal investments prioritize apprenticeship programs because of the need for skilled workers in the renewable energy sector. Since 2020, solar jobs grew more than 5% nationally, but 40% of (non-unionized) employers reported it was “very difficult” to find qualified workers.

Northern Great Plains tribes are taking a grassroots approach to solving this need and utilizing these funds. “How can we create this industry on our reservations to give our communities resiliency,” said Davis, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Betting on solar in a wind economy

Energy is a big industry in North Dakota. Fourteen percent of the state’s workforce is employed by the energy sector. The strongest renewable energy sector has been wind, providing about 1,700 jobs and a majority of the for the state, according to American Clean Power.

Tribes looking to expand renewable energy in their regions want to see more Indigenous people employed in the energy sector, but face significant barriers to wind energy development. Wind projects require a lot of land, upfront costs, and complicated agreements for regional grid connectivity, said Lizana Pierce, deployment supervisor with the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy. Tribes are instead focusing on solar.

They hope training programs like Lightspring Solar will help capitalize on the clean energy boom. SAGE Development Corporation CEO Joe McNeil Jr. envisions Standing Rock employing tribal members to operate a grid powered by solar and wind.

But some are skeptical. “We need to be honest with ourselves,” said Chéri Smith, founder of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. In the Dakotas, “it’s not solar friendly, the state incentives aren’t there, the state support isn’t there,” she said. In other words, there’s insufficient solar demand to support new jobs.

While she has seen multiple solar trainees go on to start their businesses or work for solar companies, the industry’s potential workforce benefits in Great Plains tribal communities “should not be overstated,” she warned.

“We don’t want solar installers to just become solar installers,” said Smith, a descendant of the Mi’kmaq Nation. There’s not enough demand yet, she said, to support solar specialists. These training programs should also include basic electrical skills, so “they’re not stuck with only one skill set.” Smith views this as a holistic solution to the persistently high unemployment of Standing Rock Reservation’s young population.

Solar also faces tough competition. Wind is king in the clean energy economy. Nationally, wind supplies more energy than solar because commercial wind technology was developed decades before solar, and there have been more federal incentives. That trend is extreme in North Dakota, where 36% of all energy is supplied by wind, compared to just 0.01% by solar. And the state gets plenty of sunshine – it’s one of the sunniest states along the Canadian border.

Wind turbines and the technical experience required to maintain them require a lot more certifications, training and upfront cost. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in northern North Dakota tried it out – but without a local wind technician they could not afford to maintain the turbines.

These issues have proven contentious in the state, where lawmakers have pushed the wind industry to employ locals. A failed 2021 bill would have required companies to prioritize hiring local workers for their state-funded projects. In September, a local labor union criticized the high number of out-of-state workers in the state’s wind industry.

So rather than try to muscle in on the wind sector, they’ve decided to start with solar. Solar’s costs have dropped almost 90% in the last decade, reducing barriers to entry. Storage advancements have improved solar reliability.

“Solar is here to stay and is only going to grow,” said Pierce.

Community ownership model

The apprenticeship program is just the beginning of SAGE Development Corporation’s broader vision, McNeil said. Tribal energy advocates know training community members is crucial to tribal energy sovereignty.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to have someone from here who has been trained professionally and certified through our process…and know they have our best interest at heart because our community supports one other,” McNeil said.

The six technicians who completed this summer’s installation apprenticeship have a promising future in the Dakotas. White Mountain is an independent general contractor based out of Standing Rock. He plans to incorporate solar installation into his services. “We’ve got plenty of work,” said Kambeitz. Even during winter when installation work virtually stops, Lightspring tries to keep staff employed through additional training and certification.

Indigenized Energy is working with the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin to develop similar workforce development programs and include business skills for their solar operation. “The biggest thing” is the tribe’s capacity to manage their utilities operation, according to Two Bears. These efforts could speed up development region-wide. By adapting the Menominee Tribe’s model, other tribes won’t have to “recreate the wheel,” he said.

“The biggest thing is we’re an Indigenous crew and we’re installing for an Indigenous community,” Davis said. He acknowledged that some potential apprentices hesitate to commit to solar training when there is “no historical data in North Dakota supporting it.”

But the sun’s potential is not new to the tribes. “This is something we as Indigenous people have known for time immemorial,” Davis said. “We’re able to use these alternative energy resources to give us our power back.”

This story is a product of the , an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri. Support our independent reporting network .

The post Tribes reach for the sun, start from ground up appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By ISABELLA O’MALLEY, JENNIFER McDERMOTT and ALEXA ST. JOHN
Associated Press

Led by new solar power, the world added renewable energy at breakneck speed in 2023, a trend that if amplified will help Earth turn away from fossil fuels and prevent severe warming and its effects.

Clean energy is often now the least expensive, explaining some of the growth. Nations also adopted policies that support renewables, some citing energy security concerns, according to the International Energy Agency. These factors countered high interest rates and persistent challenges in getting materials and components in many places.

The IEA projected that more than 440 gigawatts of renewable energy would be added in 2023, more than the entire installed power capacity of Germany and Spain together.

Here’s a look at the year in solar, wind and batteries.

ANOTHER BANNER YEAR FOR SOLAR

China, Europe, and the U.S. each set solar installation records for a single year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

China’s additions dwarfed those of all other countries, at somewhere between 180 and 230 gigawatts, depending on how end-of-the-year projects turn out. Europe added 58 gigawatts.

Solar is now the cheapest form of electricity in a majority of countries. Solar panel prices fell a whopping 40 percent to 53 percent in Europe between December 2022 and November 2023 and are now at record lows.

“Particularly in Europe, it’s been really at breakneck speed of scaling up the deployment,” said Michael Taylor, senior analyst at IRENA.

When the final numbers for 2023 are in, solar energy is expected to surpass hydropower in total capacity globally, but for actual electricity produced, hydropower will still make more clean power for some time because it can produce around the clock.

In the United States, California continues to have the most solar energy, followed by Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona.

Both state and federal incentives had a large influence on U.S. solar growth, said Daniel Bresette, president of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, a non-profit education and policy organization.

Despite solar’s success in 2023, there are hurdles. There has been a shortage of transformers, Bresette said, while interest rates have risen.

In the U.S., solar manufacturing grew as well. “We have seen the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act in terms of fueling investments … more than 60 solar manufacturing facilities were announced over the past year,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

CHALLENGES FOR WIND ENERGY

By the end of 2023, the world will have added enough wind energy to power nearly 80 million homes, making it a record year.

As with solar, most of the growth, or more than 58 gigawatts, was added in China, according to research from Wood Mackenzie. China is on track to surpass its ambitious 2030 target of 1,200 gigawatts of utility-scale solar and wind power capacity five years ahead of schedule if planned projects are all built, the Global Energy Monitor said.

China was one of the few growing markets this year for wind, the Global Wind Energy Council said. Faster permitting and other improvements in key markets such as Germany and India also helped add more wind energy. But installations were down in Europe by 6 percent year-over-year, Wood Mackenzie said.

Short-term challenges such as high inflation, rising interest rates and increased costs of building materials forced some ocean wind developers to renegotiate or even cancel project contracts, and some land-based wind developers to delay projects to 2024 or 2025.

The economic headwinds came at a difficult time for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry as it tries to launch the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farms. Construction began on two this year. Both aim to open early in 2024 and one of the sites is already sending electricity to the U.S. grid. Large offshore wind farms have been making electricity for three decades in Europe, and more recently in Asia.

After years of record growth, the industry group American Clean Power expects less land-based wind to be added in the United States by year’s end, about enough to power 2.7 million to 3 million homes. The group says developers are taking advantage of new tax credits passed last year in the Inflation Reduction Act, but it takes years to bring the projects online. There has been $383 billion in announced clean energy investments since passage of the IRA, it said.

“We’re talking about 2023 essentially as a lower performance year, but in the grand scheme of things, 8 to 9 gigawatts is still a number to get excited about. It’s a lot of new clean energy that’s being added to the grid,” said John Hensley, ACP’s vice president for research and analytics.

Globally the wind buildout was slower this year as well. The top three markets this year are still China, the United States and Germany for wind energy produced on land, and China, the United Kingdom and Germany for offshore.

The analysts are predicting that the global industry will rebound next year and make nearly 12 percent more wind energy available worldwide.

In June, the industry celebrated passing 1 terawatt of installed wind energy worldwide. It took more than 40 years to reach that milestone, but it could take less than seven years for the second terawatt, at the pace the industry is on now.

MASSIVE YEAR FOR BATTERIES

Amid an ongoing push to make transportation less damaging to the climate, the electric vehicle trend accelerated globally in 2023, with one in five cars sold this year expected to be electric, according to the International Energy Agency. That meant it also turned out to be another banner year for batteries.

More than $43.4 billion has been spent on battery manufacturing and battery recycling just in the U.S. this year, thanks largely to the Inflation Reduction Act, according to Atlas Public Policy. This puts the U.S. on a more level playing field with Europe, but still behind battery powerhouse China.

As for large battery factories, called gigafactories, the U.S. and Europe each had 38 in the works by late November, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. But China had 295 in the works.

The industry continued to explore different ways of making batteries without depending so much on harmful materials, as well as ways of making components more sustainable, and the battery recycling industry made headway, experts said.

The cost of key battery raw materials, including lithium, also dropped significantly, Benchmark senior analyst Evan Hartley said.

“The battery cost is now on that trajectory that most Americans will be able to afford an EV,” said Paul Braun, a University of Illinois professor of materials science and engineering.

2023 wasn’t an easy journey. The U.S. industry, in particular navigated several headwinds. A massive Panasonic battery facility in Kansas had energy challenges. Toyota needs to shore up a talent pool for its site in North Carolina. Health and safety violations were found at a joint venture plant between General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution in Ohio. The list goes on.

Regardless of the region, roadblocks remain in minerals, responsible supply chains, and the buildout of charging infrastructure. “That’s going to be the next agenda item,” John Eichberger, executive director of the Transportation Energy Institute.

But experts are optimistic that battery growth across the globe will continue.

“The story of batteries in the U.S. in small is the story of batteries globally in 2023 at large,” said Daan Walter, principal in the strategy team at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a sustainability research group, “and how momentous this shift in 2023 has been.”

The post The year in clean energy: Wind, solar and batteries grow despite economic challenges appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The window for low-income service providers to take advantage of funds available through the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program is closing. Each year, 25 percent of the program’s budget is allocated to low-income and moderate-income homeowners and service providers. This year, the non-income-restricted funds have already been disbursed, and only low-income and moderate-income restricted funds remain. Additionally, the program is scheduled to sunset in January 2024, further illustrating the need for low-income service providers to act now.

In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2618, requiring the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) to adopt a program providing rebates for the “purchase, construction or installation” of solar and combined solar and storage systems in both residential and commercial applications. As a result, ODOE established the program with a budget consisting of funding for various tiers of entities involved in purchasing, constructing or installing solar or solar and storage systems, with the tiers of funding depending on those entities’ income levels. The tiers are (1) non-income-restricted, (2) moderate-income restricted and (3) low-income restricted.

Under OAR 330-240-0070, low-income service providers include:

• developers or owners of affordable multifamily housing that are eligible to receive public assistance administered by Oregon Housing and Community Services;
• community service organizations (public, tribal or 501(c) entities) “whose primary purpose is to offer health, dental, social, financial, energy conservation, or other assistive services to individuals or households with incomes at or below 100 percent of the state median income by household size;”
• tribal or local government entities that use public buildings to provide social services, emergency shelter and/or communications in disaster situations.

Of note, there is no definition for moderate-income service providers because the distinction only matters to residential applicants and not nonresidential service providers. To be eligible for the funds, all contractors must either be on the list of ODOE-approved contractors or sign up through the ODOE website before applying for rebates.

As of Jan. 13, 2023, $2,848,724 of low- to moderate-income restricted funds remained in the program. As the program continues, however, ODOE will release additional funding “buckets” while updating the rules regarding eligibility. ODOE is seeing significant demand for the non-income-restricted solar rebates while money remains in the moderate- to low-income “bucket.” Specifically, OAR 330-240-0150(8) provides that if the funds for low- or moderate-income service providers are not spent for the year, ODOE may make the unspent funds available for all applicants. Thus, there is a time-limited window for low- and moderate-income restricted service providers to take advantage of the remaining funds before ODOE potentially restricts them.

Additionally, low- to moderate-income service providers should be aware that the program is scheduled to sunset in January 2024 and will be staffed only through June 30, 2023 (i.e., the ODOE members working on the program are in limited-duration positions that are only authorized through the end of June). While ODOE plans to propose an extension of the program during the 2023 legislative session, low- to moderate-income service providers may want to take advantage of the remaining funds while they are available (and before ODOE reallocates them).

Bailey Oswald is an associate at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC. Contact her at 503-796-2427 or bmoswald@schwabe.com.

Sara Sayles is of counsel at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC. Contact her at 503-796-2486 or ssayles@schwabe.com.

Sarah Lawson is a shareholder at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC. Contact her at 206-407-1507 or slawson@schwabe.com.

This column is intended to provide readers with general information and not legal advice. Consult professional counsel for help regarding specific situations.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. None of the authors nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Time running out to take advantage of Oregon rebate program | OP-ED appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By Gillian Flaccus

The Associated Press

PORTLAND — A renewable energy plant in Oregon that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there officially opened Wednesday as the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America.

The facility, which at maximum output can generate enough electricity to power a small city, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining with fossil fuels like coal or natural gas.

At the Oregon plant, massive lithium batteries store up to 120 megawatt-hours of power generated by the 300-megawatt wind farm and 50-megawatt solar farm so it can be released to the electric grid on demand. At maximum output, the facility can produce more than half of the power that was generated by Oregon’s last coal plant, which was demolished earlier this month.

On-site battery storage isn’t new, and interest in solar-plus-battery projects in particular has soared in the U.S. in recent years due to robust tax credits and incentives and falling prices of batteries. The Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility in Lexington, however, is the first in the U.S. to combine integrated wind, solar and battery storage at such a large scale in one location, giving it even more flexibility to generate continuous output without relying on fossil fuels to fill in gaps.

The project is “getting closer and closer to having something with a very stable output profile that we traditionally think of being what’s capable with a fuel-based generation power plant,” said Jason Burwen, vice president of energy storage at the American Clean Power Association, an advocacy group for the clean power industry. “If the solar is chugging along and cloud cover comes over, the battery can kick in and make sure that the output is uninterrupted. As the sun goes down and the wind comes online, the battery can make sure that that’s very smooth so that it doesn’t, to the grid operator, look like anything unusual.”

The plant, located in a remote expanse off Oregon Route 74 south of Boardman, is a partnership between NextEra Energy Resources and Portland General Electric, a public utility required to reduce carbon emissions by 100 percent by 2040 under an Oregon climate law – one of the most ambitious in the nation – passed last year.

PGE‘s customers are also demanding green power – nearly a quarter-million of them receive only renewable energy – and the Wheatridge project is “key to that decarbonization strategy,” said Kristen Sheeran, PGE’s director of sustainability strategy and resource planning.

Under the partnership, PGE owns one-third of the wind output and purchases all the facility’s power for its renewable energy portfolio. NextEra, which developed the site and operates it, owns two-thirds of the wind output and all the solar output and storage.

“The mere fact that many other customers are looking at these types of facilities gives you a hint at what we think could be possible,” said David Lawlor, NextEra’s director of business development for the Pacific Northwest. “Definitely customers want firmer generation, starting with the battery storage in the back.”

Large-scale energy storage is critical as the U.S. shifts to more variable power sources like wind and solar, and Americans can expect to see similar projects across the country as that trend accelerates. National Renewable Energy Laboratory models show U.S. storage capacity may rise fivefold by 2050, yet experts say even that wouldn’t be enough to prevent extremely disruptive climate change.

Batteries aren’t the only solution being explored by the clean energy industry. Pumped storage generates power by sending huge volumes of water downhill through turbines. Other experiments involve forcing water underground and holding it there before releasing it to power turbines.

But interest in batteries for clean energy storage has grown dramatically in recent years amid falling battery costs and improving technology. That has boosted interest in hybrid plants, experts say.

Generating capacity from hybrid plants increased 133 percent between 2020 and 2021 and by the end of last year, there were nearly 8,000 megawatts of wind or solar generation connected to storage, according to the U.S. Energy Department‘s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is managed by the University of California.

Most such projects are solar power with battery storage, largely because of tax credits. But projects in the pipeline include offshore wind-plus-battery, hydroelectric-plus-battery and at least nine facilities like the one in Oregon that will combine solar, wind and storage. Projects in the pipeline between 2023 and 2025 include ones in Washington, California, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois and Oregon, according to Berkeley Lab.

Many researchers and pilots are working on alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, however, largely because their intrinsic chemistry limits them to around four hours of storage and a longer duration would be more useful.

“There is no silver bullet,” Sheeran said. “There’s no model or prototype that’s going to meet that entire need … but wind and solar will certainly be in the mix.

“This model can become a tool for decarbonization across the West as the whole country is driving toward very ambitious climate reduction goals.”

The post Tiny Oregon town’s new facility is a big deal appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden ordered emergency measures Monday to boost crucial supplies to U.S. solar manufacturers and declared a two-year tariff exemption on solar panels from Southeast Asia as he attempted to jump-start progress toward achievement of his climate-change-fighting goals.

His invocation of the Defense Production Act and his other executive actions come amid complaints by industry groups that the solar sector is being slowed by supply chain problems due to a Commerce Department inquiry into possible trade violations involving Chinese products. Word of the White House’s actions caused solar energy companies to gain ground on Wall Street.

The Commerce Department announced in March that it was scrutinizing imports of solar panels from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia, because of concern that products from those countries are skirting U.S. anti-dumping rules that limit imports from China.

Asked at the White House if Biden’s pause in tariffs was not a gift to China, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he was invoking the Defense Production Act, “to make sure that he’s delivering for the American people.”

“He is putting the full force of the federal government behind supporting American clean energy producers,” Jean-Pierre said.

White House officials said Biden’s actions aim to increase domestic production of solar panel parts, installation materials, high-efficiency heat pumps and other components including cells used for clean-energy generated fuels. They called the tariff suspension affecting imports from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia a bridge measure while other efforts increase domestic solar power production – even as the administration remains supportive of U.S. trade laws and the Commerce Department investigation.

Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Senate panel in May that the solar inquiry is following a process set by law that doesn’t allow consideration of climate change, supply chains or other factors. She said Monday that she remains “committed to upholding our trade laws and ensuring American workers have a chance to compete on a level playing field.”

“The president’s emergency declaration ensures America’s families have access to reliable and clean electricity while also ensuring we have the ability to hold our trading partners accountable to their commitments,” Raimondo stated.

Clean energy leaders have long warned that the investigation – possibly resulting in retroactive tariffs of up to 240 percent – would severely hinder the U.S. solar industry, leading to thousands of layoffs and imperiling up to 80 percent of planned solar projects around the country.

The department counters that rates exceeding 200 percent for solar products would not apply to most imports. They instead typically apply to uncooperative companies that cannot differentiate themselves from China’s government or Communist Party.

Still, any possible punishment might have jeopardized one of Biden’s top clean energy goals and run counter to his administration’s push for renewable energy such as wind and solar power, advocates argue.

“The president’s announcement will rejuvenate the construction and domestic manufacturing of solar power by restoring predictability and business certainty that the Department of Commerce’s flawed inquiry has disrupted,” Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association and a former Obama administration official, stated Monday.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, cheered Biden’s “thoughtful approach to addressing the current crisis of the paralyzed solar supply chain.”

“Today’s actions protect existing solar jobs, will lead to increased employment in the solar industry and foster a robust solar manufacturing base here at home,” Ross Hopper stated.

But not everyone in the industry was supportive.

Freezing tariffs would grant “unfettered access to China’s state-subsidized solar companies for the next two years,” according to First Solar Inc., a major solar panel manufacturer. Also, use of the Defense Production Act is “an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars and falls well short of a durable solar industrial policy,” the company’s vice president of policy, Samantha Sloan, stated. “The administration cannot stick a Band-Aid on the issue and hope that it goes away.”

The use of executive action comes as the Biden administration’s clean energy tax cuts, and other major proposals meant to encourage domestic green energy production, have stalled in Congress.

The Defense Production Act, which lets the federal government direct manufacturing production for national defense, has become a tool used more commonly by presidents in recent years. The Trump administration used it to produce medical equipment and supplies during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden invoked its authority in April to boost production of lithium and other minerals used to power electric vehicles. Last month, he used it again to prioritize boosting the nation’s supplies of baby formula amid a domestic shortage caused by the safety-related closure of the country’s largest formula factory.

Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity‘s energy justice program, stated that Biden’s announcement can “give critical momentum to the needed transition to solar energy.”

“We hope this use of the Defense Production Act is a turning point for the president, who must use all his executive powers to confront the climate emergency head-on,” Su stated.

The post Biden administration pushing for solar surge appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.