Community Renewable Energy Grant Program
| The Community Renewable Energy Grant Program supports grants for planning and developing community renewable energy and energy resilience projects. The program is open to Oregon Tribes, consumer-owned utilities, and public bodies — including counties, municipalities, and special government bodies such as ports and irrigation districts. Grants up to $100,000 are available for planning projects and up to $1 million for construction projects. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and priority will be given to projects that support program equity goals, demonstrate community energy resilience, and include energy efficiency and demand response. At least half of the grant funds will be awarded for projects that serve environmental justice communities, including communities of color, lower-income communities, rural communities, and others. Similarly, at least half of the grant funds will be awarded to projects that support community energy resilience.
ODOE has about $50 million total for this program and will make rounds of grant dollars available through 2024.
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Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program
| The Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program issues rebates for solar electric systems and paired solar and storage systems for residential customers and low-income service providers, such as public bodies serving Oregonians with low incomes and affordable housing organizations, in Oregon. Rebates are issued to approved contractors who pass the savings on to their customers.
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Energy Efficient Wildfire Rebuilding Program
| The Oregon Legislature allocated about $10.8 million to ODOE to provide funding to incentivize energy-efficient rebuilding of structures lost in the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. Building owners can receive incentives between $300 and $18,000+ to rebuild to current building code or above code – incorporating these energy efficiency improvements help make buildings more comfortable and support long-term affordability through lower energy bills.
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Heat Pump Incentive Programs
| The legislature passed SB 1536 in 2022 to bring much-needed heat relief. SB 1536 directed ODOE to:
- Develop a $10 million heat pump deployment program
- Create a $15 million grant/rebate program for installation of heat pumps by landlords
- Fund a $2 million grant for a Community Cooling Center program for extreme heat events
ODOE issued the $2 million to Energy Trust of Oregon in 2022 to support the cooling center program and expects to roll out the heat pump programs in 2023.
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Federal Funding
| Oregon expects to receive significant federal investments from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. ODOE is working to bring these federal dollars to Oregon, and some programs are expected to directly benefit local governments and municipalities.
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Rural & Agricultural Energy Audit Program
| ODOE has $100,000 available from an Energy Audit and Renewable Energy Development Assistance Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (known as a REDA grant). The funding supports energy audits for Oregon rural small businesses and agricultural producers statewide. ODOE pays for up to 75 percent of the cost of an energy audit (payable to the auditor conducting the audit); program participants are responsible for the remaining 25 percent of the cost.
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Home Energy Scoring
| ODOE works with cities to develop and implement Home Energy Score policies. Many Oregon cities now have ordinances that require a home energy score at the time a home is listed for sale. Portland, Milwaukie, and Hillsboro have completed a combined 35,000 scores, which improve community education and awareness regarding home energy performance.
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Advice for Fleet Managers
| ODOE experts help cities adopt alternate fuel technologies, including compressed natural gas, renewable natural gas, renewable diesel, electricity, and associated infrastructure like electric vehicle chargers.
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Energy Building Code Guidance
| ODOE's team is available to help cities understand and comply with Oregon's building energy code.
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1.5% for Green Energy Technology
| Public entities are required to spend at least 1.5% of new building construction or large renovation projects on eligible green energy technology. ODOE staff are available to guide and support cities complying with the program.
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Energy Resilience
| ODOE developed a resilience guidebook to offer support to small and medium electric utilities to improve system reliance.
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Schools
| ODOE administers an energy efficient schools program that helps public schools consider energy efficiency and electric school bus opportunities.
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Renewable Energy
| ODOE experts help cities consider options to increase local renewable energy to meet city energy goals.
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