Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 345 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, ENERGY FACILITY SITING COUNCIL › Division 24 - SPECIFIC STANDARDS FOR SITING FACILITIES › Section 345-024-0710 - Monetary Path Payment Requirement

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) If the applicant elects to meet the
			 applicable carbon dioxide emissions standard in whole or in part under OAR
			 345-024-0560(3), OAR 345-024-0600(3)  or OAR 345-024-0630(2), (4) and (5), the
			 applicant shall provide a bond or letter of credit in a form reasonably
			 acceptable to the Council to ensure the payment of the offset funds and the
			 additional funds required under section (4) of this rule. The applicant shall
			 provide such security by the date specified in the site certificate. In the
			 site certificate, the Council shall specify a date no later than the
			 commencement of construction of the facility for base load gas plants and
			 non-base load power plants. For nongenerating facilities, the Council shall
			 specify a date no later than the commencement of construction of the facility
			 for providing the initial bond or letter of credit, and the Council shall
			 specify conditions for providing subsequent incremental payments to meeting the
			 monetary path payment requirement. The certificate holder for a nongenerating
			 facility must meet its incremental monetary path payment requirements before
			 exhausting its offset credit account, as described in OAR 345-024-0630(4). In
			 no case shall the applicant diminish the bond or letter of credit or receive a
			 refund from a qualified organization based on the calculations of the
			 facility's emissions on a new and clean basis for a fossil-fueled power plant
			 or any other measure for a nongenerating energy facility. A qualified
			 organization shall not refund any offset funds to a certificate holder based on
			 the operation or performance of a non-base load power plant during any
			 five-year period reported under OAR 345-024-0590(5)  or, for a nongenerating
			 facility, on any offset credits the certificate holder provided under OAR
			 345-024-0620(5).
(2) In the site
			 certificate, the Council shall require the certificate holder to disburse the
			 offset funds and other funds required as specified in sections (3) and (4),
			 unless the Council finds that no qualified organization exists, in which case
			 the Council shall require the certificate holder to disburse the offset funds
			 as specified in OAR 345-024-0720(2).
(3) When the certificate holder receives
			 written notice from the qualified organization certifying that the qualified
			 organization is contractually obligated to pay any funds to implement offsets
			 using the offset funds, the certificate holder shall make the requested amount
			 available to the qualified organization unless the total of the amount
			 requested and any amounts previously requested exceeds the offset funds, in
			 which case the certificate holder shall make available only the remaining
			 amount of the offset funds. The qualified organization shall use at least 80
			 percent of the offset funds for contracts to implement offsets. The qualified
			 organization shall assess offsets for their potential to qualify in, generate
			 credits in or reduce obligations in other regulatory settings. The qualified
			 organization may use up to 20 percent of the offset funds for monitoring,
			 evaluation, administration and enforcement of contracts to implement
			 offsets.
(4) At the request of the
			 qualified organization and in addition to the offset funds, the certificate
			 holder shall pay the qualified organization an amount equal to 10 percent of
			 the first $500,000 of the offset funds and 4.286 percent of any offset funds in
			 excess of $500,000. The certificate holder for a base load gas plant shall pay
			 not less than $50,000, unless the Council specifies a lesser amount in the site
			 certificate. In the site certificate, the Council may specify a minimum amount
			 that other fossil-fueled power plants or nongenerating energy facilities must
			 pay. This payment compensates the qualified organization for its costs of
			 selecting offsets and contracting for the implementation of offsets.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision to the
			 contrary, a certificate holder subject to this rule has no obligation with
			 regard to offsets, the offset funds or the funds required by section (4) other
			 than to make available to the qualified organization the total amount required
			 under OAR 345-024-0560(3), OAR 345-024-0600(3) and (4), OAR 345-024-0630(2),
			 (4) and (5), and section (4) of this rule. The Council shall not base a
			 revocation of the site certificate or any other enforcement action with respect
			 to the certificate holder on any nonperformance, negligence or misconduct by
			 the qualified organization.
(6) For
			 monetary path payments a certificate holder must make before beginning
			 construction, the certificate holder shall make all offset fund payments and
			 all payments required by section (4) to the qualifying organization in real
			 dollars of the year in which the Council issues a final order applying the
			 carbon dioxide emissions standard to the energy facility. In the site
			 certificate, the Council shall specify an appropriate inflation index for
			 calculating real dollars. For a non-base load power plant, if a certificate
			 holder must make a payment as described in OAR 345-024-0600(4), the certificate
			 holder shall make a payment that has the same present value per ton of carbon
			 dioxide as the monetary path offset rate of the year in which the Council
			 issued the final order applying the carbon dioxide standard. In the site
			 certificate, the Council shall specify the methodology for calculating present
			 value. If the certificate holder of a nongenerating facility must make payments
			 as described in OAR 345-024-0630(4) and (5), the Council shall specify in the
			 site certificate the method for calculating the rate for the dollar value per
			 ton of carbon dioxide required according to subsection (a) or (b) below:
(a) Unless the applicant and the Council
			 agree to the methodology in subsection (b), the certificate holder shall make
			 payments that have the same present value per ton of carbon dioxide as the
			 monetary path offset rate of the year in which the Council issued the final
			 order applying the carbon dioxide standard. The Council shall set an
			 appropriate discount rate for calculating the present value, using the cost of
			 capital most recently approved by a state utility regulatory commission for
			 that utility or a similar utility as a guide; or
(b) If the applicant requests and the Council
			 agrees, the certificate holder shall make payments at the monetary path offset
			 rate in effect on the date the certificate holder makes the payment.