Senate advances bill to speed certain clean‑energy projects using surplus interconnection
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Summary
House Bill 40 76 A and a dash‑a2 amendment passed out of committee to let projects that can use existing surplus interconnection capacity proceed more quickly, with safeguards limiting county Goal 3 exceptions and requirements for mitigation and compatibility.
The Senate Energy and Environment Committee moved House Bill 40 76 A to the floor after adopting an amendment that would allow some projects to use surplus interconnection from existing energy facilities while including criteria to protect farmland and ensure mitigation.
Representative John Lively, who chairs the House Climate, Energy and Environment Committee, described the bills as tools to keep energy affordable and accelerate renewable deployment by making better use of existing interconnection capacity. Supporters said the bill is narrowly tailored to projects that can use underutilized interconnection already studied and built and that federal rules encourage access to surplus interconnection.
Testimony in favor came from transmission developers (the Northwest and Intermountain Power Producers Coalition), Renewable Northwest, the Association of Oregon Counties and the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association. Diane Brant of Renewable Northwest said the bill “offers cost savings, time savings, and naturally has sideboards” and that it helps projects use existing infrastructure to come online faster. The Association of Oregon Counties drafted the dash‑a2 amendment so counties that choose to use the exception must follow strict criteria, including identifying non‑resource lands, existing infrastructure availability, access, safety, compatibility with surrounding agriculture and a mitigation plan for impacts to water and farming practices.
The Oregon Farm Bureau opposed the measure in committee testimony, saying the bill could unintentionally incentivize development on agricultural land and that questions remained about whether counties could, in effect, sidestep Goal 3 protections. The Farm Bureau asked for additional vetting and suggested a sunset.
Proponents said the amendment preserves land‑use safeguards and does not change environmental or siting standards other than the locational dependency test in narrowly defined circumstances. Senator Golden moved the dash‑a2 amendment and the committee moved HB 40 76 A as amended to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation; both motions carried with no recorded objections.
