Committee backs expanding solar rebate program to include home battery storage

The Senate Committee on Energy and Environment on Feb. 17 voted to advance Senate Bill 827 with a due pass recommendation, a measure that would expand the Oregon Solar and Storage Rebate Program to allow battery storage systems paired with existing solar installations to qualify for rebates.

Committee debate focused on program cost, payback timelines and safeguards to protect funding for solar photovoltaic systems. Senator Brock Smith moved the measure to the floor and asked that a prior subsequent referral to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means be rescinded. The motion carried after discussion and a roll call; recorded votes included aye from Senator Golden, Senator Fanning, Vice Chair Brock Smith and Chair Solman, and a recorded "no" from Senator Robinson.

Christie Splitt of the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) told the committee the bill is a policy change and, as written, contains no appropriation; if the Legislature later chooses to fund the program those allocations would typically be made in an end-of-session budget bill. "If the bill passes and there's no funding allocated for the program, then it's essentially a change for a day when maybe sometime before the bill sunsets, funding is added back," Splitt said. She said the governor's recommended budget did not include funding for the program.

Committee members pressed staff on payback and maintenance assumptions. Senator Robinson cited an analysis he said showed a 20-year payback when homeowner costs and taxpayer costs are combined and expressed concern that adding batteries could reduce the number of solar systems funded from a fixed pot of money. Splitt said the bill explicitly limits how much of the program can be devoted to storage to protect funding for solar PV systems; she described carve-outs to preserve the majority of funding for solar and noted an existing low-income carve-out that the program has exceeded.

Splitt said the program is generally first-come, first-served: contractors apply on behalf of homeowners, and applications are approved under statutory carve-outs and current program rules. She also said OBRC-style low-income service provider dollars could support service providers adding storage for community benefit. Committee members who raised resilience as a public good said they would support the expansion despite uncertain private payback timelines.

The chair closed the work session after recording the vote and said she would carry the bill to the Senate floor.