2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 06 - Local Government, Public Employees, Elections › Chapter 215 - County Land Use Planning; Resource Lands › Section 215.141 - Energy resilience plans.

(1) The Legislative Assembly finds that each county should plan for and develop energy resilience and be prepared, in the event of major grid disruption, to maintain basic services and functions.
(2) In order to carry out the provisions set forth in subsection (1) of this section, a county may:
(a) Develop and adopt an energy resilience plan; and
(b) Incorporate the energy resilience plan into the county’s applicable natural hazard mitigation plan.
(3) An energy resilience plan developed under this section must:
(a) Be based on and plan for short-term, medium-term and long-term power outages;
(b) Identify and map:
(A) Existing energy infrastructure located within the county, including transmission lines, distribution lines, substations and energy storage systems;
(B) Natural hazard risks; and
(C) Communities that experience social vulnerability;
(c) Identify potential locations for community resilience centers and communication zones that the public may use to access electricity services during a power outage;
(d) Inventory the energy consumption needs of critical public services facilities;
(e) Identify critical public services facilities where the development of alternate energy generation and storage resources will meet local energy resilience needs;
(f) Identify opportunities to coordinate and locate energy infrastructure development to align with and support critical public services facilities;
(g) Identify time schedules, priorities and potential funding sources for developing energy resilience; and
(h) Identify other actions and resources needed to implement the energy resilience plan.
(4)(a) To identify and map communities that experience social vulnerabilities under subsection (3)(b)(C) of this section, a county shall consult with representatives from local environmental justice communities.
(b) A county shall use the locations of communities that experience social vulnerabilities to prioritize the potential locations of community resilience centers under subsection (3)(c) of this section.
(5) A public utility that is operating or serving customers within the boundaries of a county that is developing an energy resilience plan shall use reasonable efforts to assist with and comply with requests from the county for information regarding energy infrastructure that is located or serving customers within the boundaries of the county, provided that the information is exempt from disclosure under ORS 192.355.
(6) As used in this section, "critical public services facility" includes a facility related to law enforcement, fire protection, health and medical services, sanitation services, fuel and fueling, public works and engineering, public information and communications and emergency response. [2023 c.562 §5]
Note:
215.141 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 215 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.
Note:
Sections 6 and 7, chapter 562, Oregon Laws 2023, provide:
Sec. 6. County grants for energy resilience plans.
(1) The State Department of Energy shall establish a program for awarding grants to counties to cover the costs of developing energy resilience plans that meet the requirements under section 5 (3) of this 2023 Act [215.141 (3)].
(2) Under the program:
(a) A county shall use grant moneys to cover the costs of developing an energy resilience plan that meets the requirements listed under section 5 (3) of this 2023 Act;
(b) A county may be awarded a total of no more than $50,000;
(c) Counties may combine and use together grant moneys that have been awarded to the counties;
(d) A county may use grant award moneys to cover:
(A) The salaries and expenses of county employees for the time the employees work on developing an energy resilience plan;
(B) The costs to hire or contract with a technical assistance provider; and
(C) Any other necessary costs as approved by the department; and
(e) The department may issue grant award moneys to a county or directly to a technical assistance provider or providers hired or contracted by the county.
(3) The department shall establish the:
(a) Application process;
(b) Eligibility criteria for awarding grants;
(c) Process of awarding grants; and
(d) Requirements for reporting on the use of grant award moneys by grantees.
(4) No later than September 15, 2025, the department shall submit a report in the manner provided by ORS 192.245 to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to energy. The report must, at a minimum:
(a) Identify the counties that have received grants under the program and describe the status of the counties’ energy resilience plans;
(b) Identify opportunities to incorporate county energy resilience plans into a state energy resilience plan and other planning efforts; and
(c) Make recommendations for improvements to the program and investments that would improve future planning efforts. [2023 c.562 §6]
Sec. 7.
Section 6 of this 2023 Act is repealed on January 2, 2026. [2023 c.562 §7]