Bill would let Oregonians add batteries to existing solar and qualify for state rebates; program out of funds

Senate Bill 827 would allow the Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program to provide rebates for battery storage systems installed on homes or buildings that already have solar electric systems, the Oregon Department of Energy said during a public hearing April 22.

Christy Splitt, government relations coordinator for the Oregon Department of Energy, told the House Climate, Energy and Environment Committee the program was created in 2019 and launched in 2020 to reduce upfront costs for solar and solar-plus-storage systems. “The program aims to expand access to solar for low and moderate Oregonians by reserving 25% of funds available for that category of people,” Splitt said.

Splitt summarized the program’s scale: the initial $2,000,000 pilot appropriation in 2020 was later supplemented by about $25,000,000; as of earlier this year nearly 7,000 projects had received or reserved rebates across 34 of Oregon’s 36 counties, supporting about $275,000,000 in total project costs. She said roughly 40% of the rebate budget over the life of the program has gone to customers with low or moderate incomes or to low-income service providers.

Under current statute the rebate applies to storage only if it is installed at the same time as new solar. SB 827 would allow rebates for battery storage systems added later to existing solar systems. Splitt said the bill would also let the Department of Energy adopt consumer-protection rules to conform with recently introduced consumer-protection legislation in the solar industry. “This bill does not come with funding for this program. The program at this point is out of funding,” Splitt said.

Department staff answered lawmakers’ technical questions about how the rebate is delivered and how contractors interact with customers. James Cogel, the department’s policy staff on solar programs, explained that contractors submit applications on behalf of customers and that rebates are applied to upfront costs and remitted to contractors after installation and verification.

Industry representatives urged replenishing the rebate program. Angela Crowley Cook of the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association (OSEA) said OSEA strongly supports SB 827 and urged legislative funding. “We’re hoping for $20,000,000 for the biennium, which is about what the program’s used, about $10,000,000 a year,” Crowley Cook told the committee. She and department staff also discussed consumer protections, worries about tariffs and supply-chain effects on component prices, and pilot programs that would test storage in multifamily buildings.

Lawmakers raised questions about program mechanics, typical battery capacity and sizing, and whether portable solar generators qualify (they do not). DoE staff said a single backup battery typically provides about three to four hours of power for selected loads; whole-house backup usually requires multiple batteries. Agency staff and industry observers described the technology as emerging and costly now but expected to decline in price over time.

No committee vote or formal action on SB 827 is recorded in the transcript. The public hearing closed April 22.