Interconnecting
Customer Generation
Bill Tierney
Meter Services & Field Operations
Portland General Electric
Portland General
Electric Co.
WA
828,000 customers
OR
2,603 employees
Service territory population 1.7
million,
44% of state’s population
Beaver
Port Westward
OREGON
Colstrip 3
Colstrip 4
(Montana)
Columbia River
Portland
52 cities served
4,000-square-mile service area
100% Smart Meters
WASHINGTON
Coyote Springs
Biglow Canyon
Boardman
T.W. Sullivan Bull Run
River Mill
Faraday
North Fork
Oak Grove
Salem
Pelton
Round Butte
(Madras)
What We’ll Cover Today
 Three Typical PV Interconnection
Options
– Net Metering
– Small Power Production (FERC Qualifying
Facilities)
– Solar Payment Option (Oregon Feed-in
Tariff)
500 kW array located in Aurora, OR
Net Metering - PGE
Over 20 MW of Renewable Capacity
–
–
–
–
98% Photovoltaics
Ave. Residential PV: 3.49 kW
Ave. Non-Residential PV: 49.57 kW
Largest PV: 869 kW
Net Metering PGE
 OREGON Legislature Acted in
1999 and 2005
 OPUC Administrative Rules 2005
& 2007
 Applicable to solar, wind,
hydropower, fuel cells or
biomass
Net Metering PGE
 Max. size - 2 MW nameplate for NonResidential & 25kW for residential
 Generation first offsets load, then, if
generation > load, exports.
 Bi-directional metering at Utility
‘point of service’.
 Net Excess Generation
 Credit is Carried Over Month to
Month
 Once a Year True-Up
 Excess goes to low-income assistance program
 Customer Owns REC
47.0 kW array at a Carlton, Ore. winery
104 kW array,
ODOT Net Metering customer
Solar Payment Option
(Feed-in Tariff)
 Oregon Legislature Acted 2009
 OPUC Administrative Rules 2010
 Pilot Program up to 25 MW among
its three investor-owned utilities by
2015
 PGE 14.9 MW
 Customer Receives Payment for
Electricity Generated
 Contract for 15 years
Solar Payment Option
Divided into three system size
categories

Small Systems (≤10 kW DC) – “Net Metering” (NM) Option

Medium Systems (>10 to ≤100 kW DC) - NM & Bid Option

Large Systems (>100 to ≤500 kW DC) - Bid Option
Solar Payment Option
Requirements
Varying Enrollment Methods
•
•
•
•
•
Small Systems – Lottery - then First-come, First-Served
Medium Systems - Lottery/FCFS and Bid-option RFP
Large Systems – Bid-option RFP
Lottery Rate Set by OPUC
•
First Lottery = $.65
Current Lottery = $.39
•
Requires additional meter when connected behind
customer load
•
Bid-option requires authority to make power sales
at market based rates
•
Must be located on same property as PGE retail
service
Incentives
Small Power Production
Over 3.5 MW of DC nameplate
capacity currently online
- Over 99% Photovoltaics
- Another 4.4 MW of DC nameplate in development and
online before the end of 2011
Small Power
Requirements
 Up to 20 MW nameplate
 FERC Qualifying Facility
 Generation metered before any load
 Typically “Avoided Cost” Payment
–defined in 18 CFR 292.101(6) as “incremental
costs” based largely on natural gas futures
–20 year Standard Contract Term
–Fixed Price up to 15 years
518 kW array
ProLogis rooftop Small Power project
Benefits in Oregon
Feed-In Tariff
x
ETO Credit
Small Power
Fed Tax
Credit
Payment
Net Metering
Free
Metering
Program
Other
Considerations
Aggregation, loss of
yearly excess kWh.
x
x
x
x
x Allows larger PV
x
x
systems.
Insurance
Requirements, Pilot
Project with
evolving eligibility
requirements.
Current Status
Customers
Energy
Net Metering
3,300
28,000 kW
Solar Payment
1,018
12,300 kW
20
8.9 MW
Small Production
101 kW commercial array in Hillsboro, Ore.