On February 24, 2014, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Oregon Commission) issued an order in the first part of its investigation into its policies related to contracting and pricing under the Oregon and federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). The Oregon Commission maintained most of its existing policies; however, it made a number of modifications that could impact the development of small power production facilities. The order completes the first phase of its comprehensive investigation, and the Commission will consider a number of other critical PURPA-related issues in a second phase in 2015. [Read more…]
FERC Rejects Proposal to Eliminate Small QF PURPA Purchase Obligation
May 3, 2014 By
On October 17, 2013, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied PPL Electric Utilities Corporation’s (PPL Electric) request to terminate its mandatory purchase obligation for a qualifying facility (QF) under 20 megawatts (MW). [Read more…]
OPUC Declines to Investigate PGE’s Competitive Bidding Process
May 1, 2014 By
On September 20, 2013, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Oregon Commission) declined to open a declaratory ruling proceeding or other investigation into Portland General Electric Company’s (PGE) competitive bidding processes. PGE conducted a controversial request for proposals (RFP) process in which PGE selected its own resources as the winning bids over the bids by independent third party power producers. PGE selected three of its own plants: 1) the Tucannon wind project with a 267 maximum megawatt (MW) capacity located in Columbia County, Washington; 2) the 440 MW capacity Carty natural gas generation facility near the company’s existing Boardman plant; and 3) the 220 MW capacity Port Westward II natural gas plant that will be adjacent to PGE’s existing Port Westward I natural gas plant.
Hydropower Act May Spur Small Project Development
May 1, 2014 By
President Obama signed the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 on August 9, 2013. Congress passed the law to encourage hydroelectric development by streamlining the process for developing and operating small hydro projects that are subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). [Read more…]
