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Talent council receives testimony on Fair Energy Act, authorizes city logo for HB 3179
Summary
A representative from the Oregon Citizens Utility Board urged the council to support HB 3179 (Fair Energy Act); the council authorized use of the city logo to show formal support for the bill.
Jennifer Hillhart, policy and program director for the Oregon Citizens Utility Board, spoke during public testimony to urge the City of Talent to support HB 3179, known in testimony as the Fair Energy Act.
Hillhart described the bill’s three core elements: “centering the customer in rate making,” a move to multiyear rate plans to reduce annual general rate filings, and provisions for low-cost financing (securitization) and improved transparency around anticipated rate increases. She said the bill would require utilities to report economic impacts on residential customers and include a moratorium on winter rate increases; “we had record disconnections in 2024 directly related to winter rate increases,” she told council members.
After the testimony, the council considered a staff recommendation to provide the city logo to the Fair Energy Act campaign. A motion to authorize the mayor or city manager to deliver the City of Talent logo in support of HB 3179 passed on a roll-call vote.
Why it matters: Hillhart framed HB 3179 as a consumer-protection measure for residential utility customers that would change how utilities’ rate applications weigh customer impacts versus investor returns and create more predictable multi-year rate processes.
Ending: The council’s authorization lets the Fair Energy Act campaign list the City of Talent among local governments supporting HB 3179. The authorization was limited to providing the logo; the council did not take further legislative positions at the meeting.
