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Residents and climate activists urge Tumwater to adopt home energy audit requirement at point of sale
Summary
Multiple public commenters asked the council to place a draft ordinance on the agenda that would require home energy audits when homes are listed for sale, citing other cities’ experience and the Thurston Climate Action Plan.
Several residents and climate advocates used the public‑comment period to urge the Tumwater City Council to adopt a home energy audit requirement at point of listing. Charlotte Persons told the council a $200 audit is "negligible when hundreds of thousands of dollars are changing hands during a home sale" and said Portland, Oregon, and jurisdictions in California, Minnesota and Michigan have implemented similar rules. Lynn Fitzhugh, executive director of Restoring Earth Connection, said Tumwater adopted the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan in 2021 and a climate emergency declaration, and called the home energy audit proposal "low‑hanging fruit," saying "home energy is 26% of our local greenhouse gas footprint." Tom Crawford, who said he has worked on climate issues in the region, encouraged council members to place staff’s draft ordinance on an upcoming agenda. Paris McCluskey and Natasha Hayes repeated similar points, asking for countywide uniformity across Thurston County so real estate agents and buyers would not face different rules by ZIP code. Several speakers noted the Thurston Climate Collaborative has drafted language and that Thurston County would consider the proposal in October; speakers urged Tumwater to act so countywide implementation can proceed uniformly. Commenters asked the council to place the draft ordinance on an agenda for formal consideration; no council action on the ordinance was taken during this meeting.
