330-250-0080 Planning Grant: Performance Agreement (1) The department may offer a performance agreement for planning a community renewable energy project to an applicant only if it determines that the project in the application meets all requirements under Oregon Laws 2021, chapter 508, sections 29 through 32, these rules and the applicable opportunity announcement. (2) The performance agreement shall include information provided by the applicant. (3) Applicants shall have 30 calendar days from the date on which the performance agreement is provided to the applicant to accept the performance agreement. An applicant’s failure to accept the performance agreement by the deadline may cause rejection of the grant application. (4) If an applicant fails to enter into a performance agreement within 30 calendar days of the date on which the department provided the performance agreement to the applicant, the department may select alternative applicants, in order of their ranking, that also meet all requirements under Oregon Laws 2021, chapter 508, sections 29 through 32, these rules and the applicable opportunity announcement. (5) A performance agreement for planning a community renewable energy project entered into between the State Department of Energy and an applicant must provide, at a minimum: (a) A grant in an amount not to exceed $100,000 that covers up to 100 percent of the reasonable planning costs including, but not limited to, costs associated with: (A) Consulting fees. (B) Load analysis. (C) Siting, excluding property acquisition. (D) Ensuring code compliance. (E) Interconnection studies. (F) Transmission studies. (G) Other reasonable expenditures made in the community renewable energy project planning process. (b) The department shall reduce the grant amount, if the grant combined with other incentives and grants received by the applicant or partner exceeds 100 percent of the planning costs. (c) A grant may not be used to cover any fixed costs the applicant would incur in the applicant’s normal course of business such as existing staff salaries or overhead costs. (d) The department may recover grant moneys if a grantee fails to abide by the performance agreement or if planning is not completed within six months of execution of the performance agreement or a reasonable time frame if good cause to extend the deadline is demonstrated. (6) For a performance agreement for planning a community renewable energy project entered into on or after August 1, 2024, if the applicant has a partner, the applicant must have a written agreement with the partner prior to grant moneys being released to the applicant. The agreement must include the right for the department to audit all documentation relating to the project and may be required to include other terms or requirements as specified by the department in the performance agreement. The department may request a copy of the written agreement prior to releasing grant moneys. (7) The department may release up to 30 percent of the grant moneys provided for in a performance agreement, not to exceed 30 percent of planning costs, upon entering into a performance agreement with an applicant for planning a community renewable energy project, to be spent on eligible planning costs. The department shall release the remaining grant moneys upon completion of planning under the terms of the performance agreement and receipt of items listed under section (8). (8) Upon completion of the planning for which a grant was awarded, the grantee must provide the department with the following information: (a) A copy of the plan completed under the performance agreement. (b) An itemized list of the incurred costs for items listed in section (5)(a)(A)-(G). (9) If a grantee fails, or expects to fail, to complete the planning within the time frame specified in the performance agreement, the grantee must notify the department in writing in a timely manner. The notification must describe the cause of the delay, measures taken by the grantee to resolve the delay, and a revised timeline for completing the planning. If the director determines that the grantee has demonstrated good cause for the delay, the department and the grantee may agree to an extended deadline. If the director determines that the grantee has not demonstrated good cause for the delay, the department may terminate the performance agreement and recover any grant moneys released to the applicant. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 469.040 & Oregon Laws 2021, chapter 508 (House Bill 2021) Statutes/Other Implemented: Oregon Laws 2021, chapter 508 (House Bill 2021) History: DOE 6-2024, amend filed 08/23/2024, effective 09/16/2024 DOE 1-2022, adopt filed 02/28/2022, effective 02/28/2022