New Emission Standards For Oregon Customer-Owned Utilities Companies Goes Into Effect November 23, 2011

New rules for emission standards going into effect November 23, 2011
By SARAH ROSSSALEM, Ore. – Oregon Capital News

New rules governing how customer-owned utility companies are supposed to implement Oregon’s greenhouse gas emission standards for power generation went into effect Tuesday.The rules stemmed from a 2009 piece of state legislation requiring the Department of Energy (DOE) to create such rules. Investor-owned utilities will be under similar guidelines being developed by the Oregon Public Utility Commission.Specifically, the rules include an output-based method for calculating greenhouse gas emissions, how electricity with no identified generation source is to be addressed, a process for determining when a utility can be designated as a “low-carbon resource,” and how utilities can meet greenhouse gas standards.The state’s greenhouse gas emission standard, which includes only carbon dioxide emissions, is set at 1,100 pounds of emissions per megawatt-hour of electricity produced by the utility company.If a utility company wishes to become a low-carbon resource company, it must submit a plan to the DOE. That agency then decides if the plan includes enough technical documentation to prove that the company will be a low greenhouse gas producing facility within seven years of opening.