What's New
July 2010
- Now
Please sign our online Petition to our Senators to remove federal barriers to setting up Feed-In Tariff programs. To sign the petition click here.
- Thursday, July 1, 2010
Oregon's Production Based Incentive (PBI) Pilot Programs for Solar are set to launch on July 1st. The programs are open to all customers of Oregon's three privately-owned utilities. The pilot programs are set to run for the next five years and will test the efficiency of paying customers an incentive price to produce solar energy onsite. While the program is not all OREP had hoped for and falls far short of a Feed-In Tariff, it is a start on that path. Be sure to check it out and compare it to Oregon's current system of tax incentives for solar. OREP will be working to improve the program over the next few years. We are gathering data on customer experience with the pilot and welcome your feedback at any time. Send an email to info@OregonRenewables.com or call 503-232-1911.
To learn more about and to access the solar pilot programs on July 1st at 8:00 AM, visit the websites of:
Portland General Electric (Solar Incentive Pilot Project) click here, Pacific Power (Oregon Solar Incentive Program) click here or Idaho Power click here.
- IMPORTANT JULY WORKSHOP: REGISTER NOW!
FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE WEST COAST!
An opportunity to learn about Feed-In Tariffs from the experts July 12th & 13th in San Francisco - just prior to the 2010 InterSolar Conference
On July 12th and 13th, FIT advocates will have two fantastic opportunities to be educated by the experts about the enormous potential of Feed-In Tariff policies and to build collaborative relationships with each other when the very first FIT Conference and Price-Setting Workshop on the West Coast takes place in San Francisco.
For serious FIT advocates and those working to improve Oregon's FIT, these two events are not to be missed.
The list of guest speakers on Monday alone is stunning (see below) and will certainly help move forward the conference objectives of developing political strategies for robust FIT policies and building collaborative networks to achieve them.
To register for the Monday event visit: click here. If you have questions, contact conference organizer Rory Cox at 415.399.8850
x302.
To register for the Tuesday, July 13th Price-Setting Workshop, see details below.
OREP will be organizing a delegation from Oregon to attend both days. If you are interested, please contact me ASAP.
In preparation for those of us attending the Price-Setting Workshop, OREP will hold a "financial concepts 101" refresher on an upcoming conference call, so watch for an email.
- MONDAY EVENT:
San Francisco, Monday, July 12, 2010
This one-day conference is co-hosted by World Future Council, Pacific Environment and Boell Foundation for the purpose of discussing the deployment of renewable energy in the United States, with a focus on California and the West Coast. Participants from stakeholder organizations, business and government will discuss this policy option to stimulate vast investment in renewable energy to increase energy security and job creation in California and other states.
Key Objectives:
a. Increase understanding of Feed-in Tariffs, including their significant potential to address climate change, create new jobs and rapidly develop renewable energy.
b. Discuss details of how to draft and implement renewable energy laws in the United States, with a focus on California and the West Coast.
c. Develop political strategies for implementing robust Feed-in Tariffs.
d. Build new coalitions and networks.
Schedule:
Registration & Continental Breakfast: 8 to 9 AM
Program: 9 AM to 5 PM
No Host Cocktail Reception: 5 to 7 PM
Lunch Provided.
Confirmed Speakers:
Hans Josef-Fell - Member of the German Parliament for the Green Party and co-author of Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act
John Geesman - Board member of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and former commissioner of the California Energy Commission
Michael Brune - Executive Director, Sierra Club and former Executive
Director, Rainforest Action Network
Bernard Chabot - Creator of French differentiated wind energy tariffs and an international authority on the pricing of renewable energy
Nils Mellquist - Deutsche Banke, DB Climate Change Advisors and principal author of Paying for Renewable Energy at the Right Price: Achieving Scale Through Efficient Policy Design.
Angelina Galiteva - Renewables 100 and former Executive Director of Strategic Planning for City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Deb Doncaster - Community Power Fund, Ontario, Canada Executive Director of the Community Power Fund and one of the architects of Ontario, Canada's precedent-setting renewable energy policy.
Bill Powers - Powers Engineering an authority on the potential of distributed generation in California, and author of San Diego Smart Energy 2020.
Jennifer Gleason - Environmental Law Alliance, Oregon and advocate for Feed in Tariffs in Oregon.
Ryan Matulka - UCLA School of Public Affairs and principal author of report, Designing an Effective Feed in Tariff for Greater Los Angeles.
Craig Lewis - Founder of FIT Coalition and RightCycle.
Randy Hayes - World Future Council, formerly with International Forum on Globalization, Rainforest Action Network, Cities of San Francisco and Oakland.
Paul Gipe - Co-chair of the Alliance for Renewable Energy and an authority on wind energy.
Rory Cox (MC) - California Program Director, Pacific Environment and on founder of the Local Clean Energy Alliance.
The conference will take place before the Intersolar North America Conference (July 13 - 15), North America's Premier Exhibition and Conference for the Solar Industry.
Space is limited! A detailed agenda will be provided soon. For more information and to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, contact Rory Cox at 415.399.8850 x302 or click here.
Address
City Club of San Francisco
155 Sansome Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
To register for the Monday event visit: click here
- TUESDAY PRICE-SETTING WORKSHOP
July 13, 2010
Bernard Chabot will lead a feed-in tariff price-setting technical workshop on 13 July, 2010 in San Francisco, California. The workshop features an extensive technical discussion of the Profitability Index Method for calculating specific tariffs for solar and wind energy.
The workshop is free but a reservation is required.
Monsieur Chabot was the principal economic consultant to the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association in its campaign for feed-in tariffs in the Canadian province of Ontario. He is also the architect of the wind energy tariffs that vary with resource intensity used in France.
These are advanced workshops intended only for those seriously interested in the economic theory behind tariff setting and the formulas necessary to calculate tariffs that pay for the cost of generation plus a reasonable profit. The one-day workshop is condensed from a multi-day presentation. Consequently, the workshop assumes that participants understand renewable energy technology as well as terms such as, return-on-equity, average weighted cost of capital, internal rate of return, interest, and inflation.
The workshop is sponsored by the Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is also providing the venue.
13 July, 2010
Sierra Club National Headquarters
85 Second St., 2nd Fl.
San Francisco, CA 94105-3441 USA
9.00 am-4.00 pm (Registration begins at 8.30 am)
Please RSVP to Paul Gipe, click here
Note that there are two back-to-back events in San Francisco on the subject of feed-in tariffs in July. Registration is being handled separately for each event.
Background material on the workshop, including an agenda from a similar workshop earlier this year, and documents by Bernard Chabot are listed below.
click here Chabot
2010 Price-Setting Workshops Advanced Preparation--One of the purposes of the workshops is to learn a technique for calculating the tariffs needed to cover the "cost of generation plus a reasonable profit" that is a hallmark of successful feed-in tariff programs. . .
click here Chabot Technical Workshop Program from February 2010 for the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club--the San Francisco workshop will be similar
click here Background on and Publications of Bernard Chabot, Engineer
To register for the Tuesday workshop, please RSVP to Paul Gipe, click here
- Saturday to Sunday, July 23-25, 2010
OREP will lead two Feed-In Tariff workshops at the Solwest Fair in John Day, Oregon.
Click here to view our updated slideshow on an Introduction to Feed-In Tariff's.
Click here to view our updated slideshow on The New Oregon Feed-In Tariff.
From the Solwest Fair program:
Feed-In Tariffs 101: All levels. Sat 7-24 10AM:. Oregon is starting up a 5-year FIT pilot program for solar. Reservations are open for customers of Oregon's privately-owned utilities: PGE, PacifiCorp and Idaho Power. What is a Feed-In Tariff policy for renewable energy? How will Oregon's Feed-In Tariff Pilot Program for Solar work? Presenters: Judy Barnes, Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy Kathleen Newman, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Feed-In Tariffs 102. All levels. Sun 7-25 1PM: How could community financing of solar work under a Feed-In Tariff? How can a Co-op, Muni or People's Utility District develop a Feed-In Tariff program? The goal is to make the program work for as many people, and as many types of renewable energy, as possible. Presenters: Judy Barnes, Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy Stanley Florek, Tangerine Solar
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Stay tuned! OREP will post new developments in this space.
Click here for older archived updates:
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OREP's New Vision for a sustainable energy future:
- Solar panels on neighborhood homes, small businesses, churches, and schools
- Average Oregonians producing solar energy and earning a return ontheir investment
- Local lenders financing solar projects in rural and urban Oregon, tokeep money circulating locally
- A stable and flourishing solar industry with living wage jobs
- Widespread support among voters for a solar subsidy plan they participate in and benefit from directly
Note: OREP is no longer an active organization. We chose to leave our website up for the time being for the archival value it provides. 
Oregonians for Renewable Energy Progress