Report on Reducing Barriers to Clean Energy Deployment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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The Oregon Energy Strategy identified five pathways that together represent the direction Oregon needs to take to meet its energy policy objectives – including an energy transition that will deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy to all Oregonians. The five pathways are: (1) Energy Efficiency, (2) Clean Electricity, (3) Electrification, (4) Low-Carbon Fuels, and (5) Resilience. The second pathway, Clean Electricity, highlights the need to increase transmission capacity to access out-of-state generation resources as well as the potential benefits – from energy resilience to local economic development – of deploying more clean energy generation within Oregon.

Executive Order 25-29 directs action to implement the Oregon Energy Strategy. For the Clean Electricity pathway, EO 25-29 directs agencies to undertake six initiatives, including this report, to “get clean energy projects built.” While other EO 25-29 initiatives focus on transmission, land use, and siting, this report examines barriers to new generating facilities. Specifically, this report looks at challenges affecting wind, solar, and battery storage facilities over 20 megawatts in size that already hold a site certificate from the Energy Facility Siting Council or a county permit. As of EFSC’s September 2026 monthly status update, there is a total of 3,036 MW of these clean energy projects with approved site certificates from EFSC that are not yet under construction and another 8,012 MW that have applied or plan to apply for a site certificate from EFSC.

Barriers to Clean Energy Deployment

Based on ODOE’s research, cross-agency coordination, and analysis of public comments, this report provides an inventory of seven barriers to approved in-state projects getting built:

  • Cost, including the challenges of timing investments for reliability with the pressing concerns of energy affordability;

  • Unexpected delays, such as the federal administration’s illegal freeze on new wind energy facilities;

  • Limited cross-jurisdictional coordination, including federal-to-state and agency-to-agency alignment;

  • Limited availability of equipment and supplies, such as supply chain constraints for transformers;

  • Limited staffing capacity that can hinder the efficiency of permitting authorities, including Tribes, federal entities, state agencies, and local jurisdictions such as counties;

  • Unmet workforce needs, including the limited employment opportunities for current skilled and trained workers, which deters workforce growth; and

  • Limited grid capacity, which is a nationwide challenge that is imposing higher costs and longer timelines on facility developers and, ultimately, on customers.

These barriers are significant. There is no simple solution to overcome them, and many potential actions pose trade-offs. As Oregon looks to accelerate clean energy deployment overall, the challenge for state and local policymakers is to identify and advance those energy facilities whose total benefits outweigh their total costs. ODOE plays an important supporting role here, consistent with its mission to responsibly balance energy needs and impacts for current and future generations.

Recommendations to Overcome Barriers

ODOE recommends six policy actions to overcome the above barriers:

  • Consider providing financial incentives to new clean energy facilities that provide significant localized benefits to Oregon communities. Providing state financial incentives would enable in-state facilities to offer lower, more cost-competitive bids, enter contracts to supply Oregon utilities, and pursue construction. Ultimately this would provide more supply that can reduce upward pressure on electricity rates and support economic development. There are other policy interventions that could overcome barriers to Oregon energy projects that provide community benefits without using tax dollars, but they risk further increasing costs on utility customers.

  • Support the expansion and upgrading of critical transmission infrastructure. Coordinated action is needed to address the largest investment needs to deploy clean energy, such as transmission upgrades. Implementing EO 25-29’s new framework for strategic transmission siting is one critical aspect of addressing Oregon’s grid needs.

  • Monitor for, and defend against, market-disrupting federal policy changes. Oregon is actively engaging Congress and the courts on concerns and opportunities. Further advocacy, including litigation, may be necessary in the coming months and years.

  • Prioritize actions that support Oregon’s existing and future clean energy workers. Addressing the unmet needs of Oregon’s current clean energy workforce is critical to achieving the full potential benefits of clean energy deployment in the coming years, especially at the local scale. ODOE’s forthcoming Workforce Needs Assessment will provide more specific recommendations on this topic.

  • Increase state agency capacity as needed to meet permitting needs and provide statewide technical assistance. Increased state agency capacity is needed to implement recommendations across EO 25-29 initiatives, such as the proposed improvements to the Energy Facility Siting Council’s process noted in ODOE’s Report on Siting and Permitting Large-Scale Electricity Infrastructure and the Department of Land Conservation & Development’s recommendation to “Develop guidance for local government implementation of HB 4031” for new projects that are eligible to opt out of EFSC’s process.

  • Convene recurring forum discussions on cross-jurisdictional topics, such as opportunities to align siting, interconnection, and procurement processes, to support further conversation and actions on these topics. These discussions should include a diverse range of perspectives from inside and outside of government. With adequate staffing, ODOE could convene a forum every year or every few years to advance cross-jurisdictional coordination. ODOE recommends the first forum explore the interconnection reforms currently being implemented and their potential effects on other processes.

Complementary Recommendations

The above recommendations aim to overcome the identified barriers, but there are limitations to how quickly new large-scale facilities can be built. Considering what else might be done, ODOE offers the following complementary recommendations:

  • Advance energy efficiency, load flexibility, and small-scale energy resources across the state, which may be deployable faster than large-scale facilities. ODOE intends to focus on clean energy facilities under 20 MW in size as it continues investigating barriers to clean energy deployment and potential policy recommendations to overcome them. As part of this evaluation, ODOE intends to continue evaluating supply chain constraints and changing federal trade policies.

  • Encourage regional cooperation and the advancement of wholesale energy markets. Once sufficient data is available, ODOE intends to examine whether new day-ahead markets reveal additional opportunities for targeted state actions or incentives to advance new generation. If so, ODOE will propose policy recommendations.

  • Consider updating and harmonizing changes to existing energy statutes as part of any potential action on cap and invest legislation. If policymakers decide to pursue cap and invest legislation, as recommended by the Governor’s Prosperity Council, then ODOE recommends the conversation include consideration of updating and harmonizing existing statutes, such as Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. ODOE provides questions for policymakers to consider and stands ready to support policymakers with technical assistance and analysis on these and any other energy-related topics.