Marten Law Group: New Oregon Climate Change Laws Expand Emission Performance Standards, Renewable Portfolio Standards, GHG Reporting, and Energy Efficiency Programs
In this Emerging Issues Analysis, Alyssa Moir and Dustin Till of Marten Law Group report that Governor Ted Kulongoski of Oregon has recently signed several energy efficiency, climate change, and renewable energy bills. These bills mandate greater energy efficiency, expand emission performance standards and greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting requirements, and promote renewable energy.
“The most notable bill is H.B. 101, which establishes new and more stringent emission performance standards for power plants, virtually assuring that no new coal-fired power plants will be constructed in the state in the near-term. Other climate change bills signed by the Governor mandate a feed-in tariff program, expanded renewable portfolio requirements for solar photovoltaic power, and a low carbon standard for transportation fuels,” the authors explain. “The legislature, however, did not pass S.B. 80 1, a bill that would have established an enforceable greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program for the power, industrial, transportation, and other sectors, and the Governor vetoed two climate-related bills that were passed by the legislature.”
The authors explain in detail the revised emission performance standards for power-plant baseload generation, the solar renewable portfolio standard and feed-in tariff, the expanded mandatory greenhouse gas reporting program, the low carbon fuel standard, and mandatory energy efficient building code standards.
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