ORS Chapter 469 — Energy; Conservation

ORS 469.277. Department adoption of performance standards; enforcement; rules. (1)(a) Not later than December 31, 2024, the State Department of Energy, in consultation with the Department of Consumer and Business Services, shall adopt rules that use the American National Standards Institutes standards for Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings (ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 100) as an initial model for specifying an energy performance standard for covered commercial buildings. In rulemaking proceedings to adopt or update rules under this paragraph, the State Department of Energy shall disclose the sources of information, including the model described in this paragraph and any peer-reviewed science, that the department relies on in developing or updating the energy performance standard. The department shall update the energy performance standard not later than July 1, 2029, and by the same month and day in each successive period of five years. (b) The energy performance standard described in paragraph (a) of this subsection must: (A) Comply with the requirements of ORS 469.275 to 469.279; (B) Seek to maximize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from covered commercial buildings; (C) Include energy use intensity targets that apply to specific types of buildings; and (D) Provide for methods to achieve conditional compliance with an applicable energy use intensity target, which must, at a minimum, require: (i) Preparing an energy management plan; (ii) Developing a program for building operations and maintenance that aims at achieving the applicable energy use intensity target; (iii) Making investments in energy use efficiency measures that aim at achieving the applicable energy use intensity target; and (iv) Submitting to energy use audits, which may be based upon or linked to ASHRAE Standard 211 audits. (c) Adoption of the energy performance standard described in paragraph (a) of this subsection does not change eligibility criteria for, or benefits or incentives available under, other programs for energy efficiency demand response. (2)(a) In adopting the energy performance standard described in subsection (1) of this section, the department: (A) Shall: (i) Develop energy use intensity targets that are not more stringent than the average energy use intensity for each covered commercial building occupancy classification, adjusting as necessary for a covered commercial buildings unique energy-using features; (ii) Consider, for the purpose of establishing energy use intensity targets, regional and local data that identifies building energy use, such as existing benchmarking data from the Energy Star program established under 42 U.S.C. 6294a; (iii) Consider, for the purpose of establishing the energy performance standard, federal and local programs that relate to energy efficiency standards, aligning where possible requirements under the energy performance standard to avoid duplicative work by regulators and eligible building owners; (iv) Develop energy use intensity targets for two or more climate zones that represent energy use in a year with normal weather; (v) Develop energy use intensity targets that exclude energy delivered through electric vehicle supply equipment; and (vi) Adopt a conditional compliance method that: (I) Requires eligible building owners of covered commercial buildings that do not meet an energy use intensity target to take action to reduce energy use; and (II) Specifies investment criteria that meet the requirements set forth in paragraph (b) of this subsection and that ensure progress toward meeting the energy use intensity target; and (B) May: (i) Consider building occupancy classifications set forth in ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 100 and the United States Environmental Protection Agencys Energy Star portfolio manager; (ii) Base energy use intensity targets for recently constructed covered commercial buildings on statewide energy codes that were in effect at the time the covered commercial building was constructed; and (iii) Require utilities, eligible building owners and other entities to aggregate data for covered commercial buildings that have multiple meters and to report or, as appropriate, provide the aggregated data for reports under ORS 469.279. (b)(A) Investment criteria the department specifies as part of a conditional compliance method under paragraph (a) of this subsection must: (i) Ensure that an eligible building owner meets the covered commercial buildings energy use intensity target by implementing energy efficiency measures identified in energy use audits; and (ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, require an eligible building owner to implement an optimized bundle of energy efficiency measures that provide maximum energy savings without resulting in a savings to investment ratio of less than 1.0 or require the eligible building owner to achieve the energy use intensity target by means of an implementation plan that: (I) Is based on an energy use audit and life-cycle cost analysis from ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 211 that accounts for the period during which a bundle of energy efficiency measures provide savings; (II) Reflects the eligible building owners net costs of implementing energy efficiency measures, excluding any costs that utility or government grants cover; (III) Allows an exclusion of energy efficiency measures that do not pay back the cost of the energy efficiency measure over the useful life of the energy efficiency measure; (IV) Allows an exclusion of energy efficiency measures that are excluded under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph; and (V) Allows for phased implementation in which an eligible building owner need not replace a system or equipment before the useful life of the system or equipment ends. (B) An eligible building owner need not meet an energy efficiency requirement that would compromise the historical integrity of a covered commercial building or part of a covered commercial building that: (i) Is listed on a state or national register of historic places; (ii) Is designated as an historic property under a state or local statute, ordinance, rule or other legislative act or a survey conducted under a statute, ordinance, rule or other legislative act; (iii) Is certified as a contributing resource within a historic district that is listed on a national register or is locally designated as a historic district; or (iv) A state historic preservation officer or the keeper of the national register of historic places has determined in an opinion or certification is eligible to be listed on the national or state register of historic places either as an individual building or as a building that contributes to a historic district. (3) The department shall create a database of eligible building owners and covered commercial buildings that are subject to the requirements of ORS 469.275 to