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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 PUC recommends more taxpayer-funded solar incentives Solar still an emerging industry By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — The state’s Public Utility Commission has recommended the Legisla- ture consider adopting taxpay- er-funded incentive programs for solar energy projects. The PUC spent the past few months evaluating and gather- ing input on the state’s solar incentive programs, and voted Tuesday to pass along the sub- stance of its recommendations to the Legislature. The state already has sev- eral taxpayer-funded programs intended to encourage the development of solar energy projects. Some of those incen- tives are scheduled to sunset soon. Another handful of rate- payer-funded programs are paid for only by customers of speciic utilities. The report states that if the Legislature “wants to capture the full social and economic development beneits” of sys- tems that convert solar energy into electricity, that taxpay- er-funded incentives — pro- grams that all Oregonians, regardless of utility provider, pay for and reap the beneits of — are the way to go. The PUC released two pre- liminary drafts of the report — required by legislation in 2015 — earlier this year. Solar companies had objected to the PUC’s initial description in an early draft of the solar energy landscape in Oregon as “robust.” Jeff Bissonnette, the exec- utive director of the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Asso- ciation, said in public com- ments Tuesday the inal draft was an improvement from ini- tial drafts. Emerging industry He said that solar energy was still an emerging industry and that he hoped the demand for solar energy in Oregon would remain stable. He added that his group was preparing an Oregon-speciic solar busi- ness plan to evaluate the future potential of solar energy. The commission noted in its inal report that it’s dificult to calculate the beneits and costs of each incentive pro- gram designed to encourage solar energy development, as projects or individual custom- ers are often eligible for more than one incentive program. Oregonians who beneit from any of the state’s incen- tives can still receive a federal Walking on sunshine: Idaho company debuts solar sidewalks Glass pavers could provide energy source Going green Solar Roadways is among a growing number of companies embracing renewable energy as the U.S. aims to reduce carbon emissions by one-third from 2005 levels by 2030. But it is the only business receiving federal highway research money in pursuit of solar road panels, part of the Federal Highway Administra- tion’s efforts to ight climate change, said Doug Hecox, a spokesman for the agency in Washington, D.C. Brusaw and his wife, Julie, got the idea for their Idaho business after watching the Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth” and deciding they also wanted to join the battle against global warming. They aren’t the only ones eyeing roads and sidewalks as a potential energy source. A solar bike path was built in the Neth- erlands in 2014, and Germany and France have announced plans to build solar roads in the future. The Brusaws hope to beat them into mass production. Incorporated in 2006, Solar Roadways has received three FHA grants, totaling $1.6 mil- lion, and funding from the state and a local economic devel- opment agency. It also drew 50,000 donors who raised $2.2 million on Indiegogo, a crowd-sourcing site. KLAMATH FALLS — The U.S. Secretary of Interior supports the removal of four hydroelectric dams on Ore- gon’s Klamath River. The Herald & News reported that Secretary Sally Jewell endorsed the plan Mon- day in a letter sent to the Fed- Home and small commercial projects The commission also rec- ommended legislators look at creating taxpayer-supported programs that incentivize res- idential and small commercial solar developments. The second recommenda- tion in the PUC’s report is tied into another piece of legislation that laid out requirements for how much of the state’s energy should come from small-scale solar energy projects. That legislation, known as the coal-to-clean bill, required electric companies credit own- ers or subscribers to so-called community solar projects in such a way that relects the value that solar energy pro- vides the electricity grid, a con- cept called “resource value.” The PUC is in the pro- cess of determining that value. After that, the PUC plans to evaluate what the beneits and costs of using that resource value-driven methodology would be, according to the report. Finally, the PUC also rec- ommended that the Energy Trust of Oregon, which admin- isters a solar electricity pro- gram paid for by a portion of public purpose charges on Portland General Electric and PaciiCorp bills, should mod- ify its use of those funds to support high-value projects that provide “unique beneits” to the utility system. An example of a unique beneit would be a project that improves reliability, according to the report. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. eral Energy Regulatory Com- mission asking it to approve an application for dam demolition. The dam would also be transferred from its current owner, PaciiCorp, to Klam- ath River Renewal Corp., a consortium of federal, state and local oficials. That would relieve PaciiCorp of all liabil- ity once the dams are decom- missioned and removed. The Klamath County bal- lot will still contain an up or down vote on whether the dams should be removed, but it is mostly symbolic. It could be used as an argument against the project if the vote is over- whelmingly against dam removal. AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios Solar Roadways founders Scott Brusaw, left, and Ju- lie Brusaw display a one-third sized replica of one of their solar pavement panels at a news conference in Sandpoint, Idaho as Sandpoint mayor Shelby Rogns- tad looks on at right. AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios A solar pavement panel, produced by Solar Road- ways company, is dis- played at a news confer- ence in Sandpoint, Idaho. three times the legal limit for a semitrailer. They are made of tempered glass, weigh about 70 pounds each and contain lights that can be programmed to direct traf- ic or alert drivers to problems. Each hexagonal panel is about 31 inches point-to-point. The panels contain micro- processors that allow them to communicate with each other, a central control station and vehi- cles. They also are designed to be easily replaced if damaged. According to Solar Road- ways, heat produced by the panels keeps roadways snow- and ice-free, improv- ing winter driving safety. The panels can currently be used for sidewalks, drive- ways and parking lots. The company is still seeking per- mission from the federal government to use them in roads. What’s next? Solar Roadways wants to set up a manufacturing facility for the glass panels in Sandpoint as early as next year. “We want to get the cost down to where the average homeowner can afford it,” Julie Brusaw said. For now, the Brusaws are doing custom jobs, but they envision do-it-yourselfers buying the panels at hard- ware stores. The next public instal- lations will be in Baltimore and at a Route 66 rest area in Missouri, Scott Brusaw said. Both are surfaces for pedestrians. Nike co-founder pledges $500 million to University of Oregon Associated Press EUGENE — Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife have pledged $500 mil- lion to the University of Ore- gon toward a new scientiic research facility. The Register-Guard reported that the donation is the largest ever awarded to UO and is meant to launch a $1 bil- lion, 10-year effort to build a three-building complex and add new graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to the university. The Knight donation will be provided over 10 years and will go toward construc- tion of the new facility and also to endowments to gen- erate income for new faculty positions. UO President Michael Schill says the $500 million pledge is the biggest ever to a U.S. public lagship university. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Dawn McIntosh rejoins Campbell & Popkin Judge-elect Dawn McIntosh has rejoined Campbell & Popkin to work closely with Chris Palmer, in whom she has great conidence. Dawn and Chris are both well-known for skillfully representing clients in di- vorce, seperation, custody and other family law mat- ters. Campbell & Popkin also provides services in business law, litigation, real estate, estate planning and probate. Dawn and Chris are both taking new clients. Dawn McIntosh www.campbellpopkin.com Chris Palmer 503-738-8400 • 1580 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside C OMING M ONDAY! BEWARE OF THIS DRIVER ... he is doing 65 ... even while parked! Happy birthday, Mustang Alex! In a five-day special report, The Daily Astorian describes the problem and search for housing solutions through the eyes of professionals, developers, homeowners and renters. The shor tage of housing options affects: Can glass support semis? Solar Roadways has been testing the strength of its half- inch-thick glass by dropping 1-pound steel balls on it from a height of 8 feet, a standard test for concrete. So far, the tests have been successful, Brusaw said. The glass has a traction surface that is equivalent to asphalt. In tests, vehicles are able to stop in the required dis- tance, he said. In strength tests, the pan- els can hold 250,000 pounds, of a solar PV system. Cur- rently that exemption is sched- uled to run out in 2018. Interior secretary supports Oregon dam removal Associated Press By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press SANDPOINT, Idaho — Scott Brusaw has a vision for the nation’s roads. He believes the solar-pow- ered glass pavers his company makes could transform thou- sands of miles of pavement into a new energy source. His business, Solar Road- ways, recently unveiled its irst public installation, in a downtown plaza in this north- ern Idaho resort town. It’s 150 square feet of hexagon-shaped solar panels that people can walk and bicycle on. The company is working on proof that the panels, for which it has a patent, are strong enough and have enough trac- tion to handle motor vehicles, including semitrailers. “Our plan is to replace all the asphalt and concrete,” said Brusaw, noting concrete occu- pies over 48,000 square miles in the U.S. “If you cover it with solar panels, we can make three times our energy needs.” solar investment tax credit, according to the report. A joint interim legislative committee is currently con- ducting a review of the state Department of Energy, which has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the troubled Busi- ness Energy Tax Credit pro- gram. That program ended in 2014. In light of the Department of Energy review, the PUC did not offer speciic recommen- dations on what form taxpayer incentives should take, but that the Legislature should study continuing an exemption on property taxes for people who have their own solar photovol- taic arrays. An array or other renewable energy system can increase a home’s value, but since 2011, the state has allowed property tax assessments to leave out any increase in property value resulting from the installation • All income levels • All walks of life MONDAY: Overview of the issues county- wide • All ages • All areas FRIDAY: WEDNESDAY: THURSDAY: County and rural South TUESDAY: Warrenton areas County Astoria
