Oregon legislature to vote on expediting power plant siting

March 29, 2001
As the energy crisis deepens in the West, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said he is backing bills in the legislature that will streamline power plant siting procedures and encourage conservation. Senate Bill 843 eliminates the need for power plants of 100 Mw or less to undergo a full review by the state siting office, so long as they get approval from the local land use authority. A second bill cuts by half the time taken to review larger gas-fired plants.


By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Mar. 29�As the energy crisis deepens in the West, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said he is backing bills in the legislature that will streamline power plant siting procedures and encourage conservation.

Senate Bill 843 passed unanimously in the Senate and is scheduled for a hearing in a House committee Friday. The legislation eliminates the need for power plants of 100 Mw or less to undergo a full review by the state siting office, so long as they get approval from the local land use authority.

�This is a slam dunk,� said Leeann Bleakney, policy analyst with the Oregon Legislative Assemby Senate Majority Office. �This means that a small power plant could just get permission from Farmer Jones and just do it. It�s got extremely good chances.�

She said other customary development procedures such as arranging for connection to the grid and complying with state and federal air quality laws will still be applicable.

Plants could operate without a full review for 2 years, when they would have to seek a permanent siting permit from the state�s Office of Energy and other government agencies, if they wanted to continue operating, she said.

For a power plant to be exempt from a full state review, it would have to fit the following conditions:

� The environmental impact of the proposed facility is not significant enough to warrant a full review.

� The plant does not significantly affect the surrounding area.

� The facility does not create a change in use of the proposed site.

The Energy Facility Siting Council must determine if the facility qualifies for an exemption within 30 days of receiving the required information to support the determination.

House Bill 3788 takes a longer term view of siting power plants, gas pipelines, and storage facilities. No state certification will be required for construction or expansion of an interstate natural pipeline, if it's been certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This would also apply to new storage facilities associated with the pipeline expansion or construction.

The legislation would dramatically shorten the time needed to review larger gas-fired power plants. �Time will be cut in half to 12-14 months for gas fired plants,� said Bleakney, from 3 years. Applications will be processed by the various state agencies simultaneously rather than sequentially, she said.

Kitzhaber said he has set a conservation goal to cut the average yearly growth of electricity use in half by the following measures:

� Use $10 million of lottery bond money to finance energy efficiency improvements in public and private buildings

� Use the �public purpose charge� on electricity bills to provide a stable funding for renewable resource investments.

� Expand a business energy tax credit for small businesses to install energy efficient lighting.

� Require state agencies to conserve energy by 10% in existing buildings and 20% in new buildings.