This bill summary was last updated January 1, 2025.
Existing Oregon state requirements for permitting new transmission lines are sometimes complex or duplicative, hampering efforts to expand the electricity grid in response to increased demand. This bill makes a number of changes to administrative regulations that are designed to speed the permitting process, while still ensuring proper oversight of environmental and other impacts. Here are some of the proposed changes:
- New transmission lines and electric power plants are subject to review by Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC). Many projects on federal land, however, are also subject to review under the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This bill would prohibit EFSC from exercising jurisdiction on projects that are sited wholly on federal lands and are subject to NEPA.
- Speed reviews of EFSC contested cases by shortening timelines to a maximum of one year, and providing that all appeals can be made directly to the Oregon Supreme Court.
- For energy facilities subject to NEPA review, require EFSC to accept the facts and findings of reviewing federal agencies, unless it finds clear errors.
- Allow minor site boundary changes without the need for amending a site certificate, and allow companies with site certificates to file requests to extend, by up to three years, the specified deadlines for beginning or completing construction.
- For overhead transmission lines, narrow the criteria for Oregon Public Utilities Commission (OPUC) review of petitions for certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCN). Direct OPUC to review petitions for CPCNs without first requiring the petitioner to obtain land use approvals.
- For high voltage transmission lines, allow site certificates to serve as conclusive proof of public convenience and necessity in condemnation proceedings or other proceedings involving interests in land. Allow high voltage lines with statewide significance to be placed in areas zoned exclusively for farm use.