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Senate approves hydrogen‑blend notice requirement for gas customers
Summary
Senate Bill 685 requires at least one public notice when hydrogen is blended into residential gas at more than 2.5% — and will require notice at any level by a specified date per the amended bill; sponsor described the change as transparency for customers.
Senate Bill 685, as amended, requires utilities to provide at least one public notice when hydrogen is blended into residential gas pipelines at more than 2.5 percent; the amended language also requires notice at any level by a specified later date stated on the floor.
Senator Pham, sponsor of the bill, said the measure is a transparency step borne of months of dialogue with community groups, utilities and the renewable hydrogen alliance. “The core of senate bill 685 is about transparency,” Pham said. “The public has a right to know what is coming into their homes.”
Pham said the amended bill does not require pre‑approval of blending but does require utilities to notify customers and the Public Utility Commission when hydrogen is being blended at more than 2.5% or “at any amount by 02/1930,” language included in the sponsor's floor remarks.
Supporters framed the bill as a means to build trust while the state transitions energy sources; the sponsor said conversations with Portland and Eugene neighbors, Climate Solutions, NW Natural and industry shaped the compromise. The Senate passed the bill on third reading with a constitutional majority.
Floor remarks note the bill seeks to ensure customers receive public notice and does not itself set safety standards or pre‑approval processes.
