Solar fans race to beat federal deadlines, foes try running out the clock

Renewable energy advocates hope a new directive from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek will allow such projects to beat pending federal deadlines to receive government subsidies.

Kotek’s executive order authorizes nine natural resource agencies to adopt emergency rules and take other necessary actions to expedite solar and wind energy development.

It also contains a series of instructions specifically directed at the Energy Facility Siting Council to help accomplish that goal, including foregoing federal consultations if possible and contracting with third parties to process applications, and directs the Public Utility Commission to take steps that would shorten the timeline for connecting clean energy to the power grid, among other measures.

With how much is at stake for energy reliability and economic development, the order is likely to meaningfully hasten the permitting process, said Angela Crowley-Koch, executive director of the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association.

“I think the governor was pretty clear in her directive to agencies to do everything under their existing authority to straight-line processes and siting, and I think they’ll do that,” she said.

But Kotek’s executive order has also caught the attention of critics who are counting on the new federal deadlines to help them run out the clock and defeat certain projects.

Projects that would convert large amounts of farmland have proven particularly contentious, with neighbors often organizing to impede regulatory approvals.

While state agencies can shorten some aspects of the permitting process, the question is whether controversial proposals will be able to clear other time-consuming barriers before federal tax credits expire.

For example, the Muddy Creek Energy Park — a solar facility planned on 1,600 acres of farmland in Linn County — must still likely undergo studies on sensitive species and wetland impacts, said Troy Jones, a neighbor who opposes the project.

“That’s a big hurdle for them to get past,” Jones said. “I don’t believe, legally, they can get anything expedited in this particular project. I’d be very surprised if they were able to facilitate this project to be accelerated.”

To qualify for federal tax credits worth 30% of project expenses, construction on renewable energy facilities must begin by mid-2026 and be completed by the end of 2027.

Those deadlines will arrive five years sooner than developers originally expected due to provisions included in the Trump administration’s “One Bill Beautiful Bill” earlier this year.

Without substantial subsidies, some projects may not be financially feasible unless they can surmount bureaucratic obstacles to begin building ahead of schedule.

“I don’t believe that it pencils out without our tax dollars going to offset those costs,” Jones said of the Muddy Creek Energy Park.

It’s also doubtful that Kotek’s directive will allow the project to bypass legally mandated regulatory requirements, he said. “I don’t believe the state will take those steps, even with the executive order in place.”

Connie Lee, an opponent of the Deschutes Solar and Battery Energy Storage System Facility in Wasco County, is likewise skeptical the executive order will allow the facility to qualify for tax credits, short of waiving key requirements.

“I think it’s going to be more difficult than they anticipated,” Lee said.

The 13,600-acre facility is planned mostly in an “exclusive farm use” zone, including irrigated property of higher agricultural value, and contains wildlife habitat in which disruptions must be mitigated, Lee said.

“I don’t see how it could speed up their process at all if they still have to follow all the same rules,” she said. “It just is a very complicated process. Unless they’re going to just say, ‘We’re not going to mitigate for habitat. We’re not going to make sure that all these studies are done and examined,’ I don’t see how they could speed it up much faster.”

And given the staggering cost of installing solar panels across more than 20 square miles, Lee said she has trouble understanding how the project could proceed without federal subsidies — particularly in light of expected delays in connecting it to transmission infrastructure.

“I don’t see how they could make money if they can’t tie into the grid and produce energy,” Lee said. “Without the tax credits, I don’t see how you could afford to do the project.”

Though the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association is optimistic the directive will streamline permitting procedures, it’s too early to discuss the specifics regarding siting, land use and other requirements, said Crowley-Koch.

“We’re excited to work with the agencies and the governor’s office and see what’s possible,” she said.

Due to the Trump administration’s aversion to consult on renewable energy projects, for instance, it may be possible to waive certain state rules that require federal involvement, she said.

“Unfortunately, those federal agency staff members are not picking up the phone anymore. They’re not answering emails,” Crowley-Koch said. “That’s become a real problem for projects that are trying to move along in the process.”

While renewable energy “has the potential to play a supporting role” in assuring access to affordable and reliable electricity, the Oregon Farm Bureau believes it must be developed “without compromising the viability of our agricultural lands,” said Ryan Krabill, the organization’s government affairs manager.

To that end, the Farm Bureau is concerned that Kotek’s executive order “could open the door to expedited permitting processes that have the potential to undermine long-established farmland protections,” he said.

The state government must ensure that any projects fast-tracked under the directive fully comply with the land use planning laws and avoid construction on productive farmland, Krabill said.

“Farmers must not be made to bear the unintended consequences of rushed decision-making,” he said.

But the farmland preservation group 1000 Friends of Oregon doesn’t consider it likely that Kotek’s executive order will undermine land use protections, said Jim Johnson, its working lands policy director.

“It doesn’t affect any of the approval criteria,” Johnson said. “There’s only so much that this can change, ultimately.”

The governor can’t unilaterally change the law, so any action that amounts to “super-siting” solar and other renewable energy projects on farmland would require legislative action, he said.

The directive is more likely to prompt regulators to move certain projects “up in the queue” for permitting, for example, or to conduct required wildlife analysis in a more timely manner, Johnson said.

“What it’s going to do is tell agencies to give these priority and to try to speed it up. It doesn’t change the law,” he said. “In fact, the legislature could only change the law.”

When asked for concrete examples of the directive’s practical effects, the governor’s office pointed to a provision in the executive order that calls for the state’s Energy Facility Siting Council to hold additional meetings to expedite permitting.

Under another provision, certain civil penalties could be waived for regulatory violations, as long as they’re limited to the “minimum disturbance necessary” for solar and wind projects to begin construction by the federal deadline.

However, those waivers would not exempt projects from the state’s energy facility siting standards.
The governor’s office is also compiling a list of eligible project that are likely to meet the executive order’s criteria, which should be finished later this month, said Anca Matica, its communications and policy advisor.

“The directive to agencies is that the highest priority should be given to projects that have secured power purchase interconnection agreements and can demonstrate the project will provide benefits to Oregon ratepayers,” she said.