Section 469.291 - Incentive program for early and voluntary implementation of standards; application process; rules(1) The State Department of Energy by rule shall establish a program to pay incentives to eligible building owners that implement ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 100 or the energy performance standard described in ORS 469.277 for covered commercial buildings before adoption and implementation is mandatory. The program must provide for:(a) An application process;(b) Standards by which the department may qualify an eligible building owner to receive, or disqualify an eligible building owner from receiving, an incentive payment;(c) A method for verifying a covered commercial building's energy consumption with the eligible building owner and the electric utility, gas company or thermal energy company that supplies energy to the covered commercial building for the purpose of qualifying the eligible building owner to receive an incentive payment;(d) A process for calculating the amount of any incentive payment;(e) An administrative process by which an eligible building owner may appeal the department's decision to qualify or disqualify the eligible building owner or the department's determination of the amount of an incentive payment; and(f) A process for authorizing incentive payments and notifying eligible building owners and persons that administer incentive payments of the department's authorization.(2) To qualify for an incentive payment, an eligible building owner must report to the department in accordance with ORS 469.279 by the deadlines and for a period of time the department specifies by rule. In addition: (a) The eligible building owner must own a tier 1 building that is or will become subject to the requirements of ORS 469.275 to 469.279 or must own a tier 2 building that qualifies as provided in subsection (3) of this section;(b) If the covered commercial building is a tier 1 building, the tier 1 building must have a baseline energy use intensity that exceeds an applicable energy use intensity target by at least 15 energy use intensity units; and(c) The eligible building owner must comply with any other requirements the department specifies by rule.(3) An eligible building owner of a tier 2 building may receive an incentive payment of 35 cents per square foot of gross floor area, excluding any parking garage, unconditioned space or semiheated space if the eligible building owner has submitted to the department, or has agreed to submit to the department in advance of an established deadline, the data described in ORS 469.287.(4)(a) Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, an eligible building owner that applies and qualifies for an incentive payment under subsection (2) or (3) of this section may receive for meeting the energy performance standard described in ORS 469.277 early or voluntarily an incentive payment of 85 cents per square foot of gross floor area of the eligible building owner's covered commercial building, excluding any parking garage, unconditioned space or semiheated space.(b) The department may authorize additional incentive payments to an eligible building owner that owns a tier 2 multifamily residential building and that enters into a binding agreement not to displace tenants from the multifamily residential building.(c) The department may authorize an incentive payment only if funds are available for the payment and contingent upon an eligible building owner's compliance with the requirements of this section and any rules the department adopts to govern incentive payments.(5) Before qualifying an eligible building owner to receive an incentive payment under this section, the department shall review the eligible building owner's application and verify any report the eligible building owner must provide under ORS 469.279 and any energy consumption the department must measure for the purposes of the qualification. If the department determines that an eligible building owner qualifies for an incentive payment, the department shall certify the qualification to the eligible building owner and to the person that administers incentive payments under ORS 469.289.(6) Not later than September 30, 2026, and by the same date every two years thereafter, the department shall report to interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to energy concerning the operations and results of the incentive program the department establishes under this section. The report must include recommendations for aligning the incentive program with greenhouse gas emission reduction goals that meet or exceed the goals specified in ORS 468A.205.Added by 2023 Ch. 442, § 17