Oregon energy hearing draws wide support for heat-pump and solar rebates; utilities warn against 18% assessment increase

Co-chair Levy opened a Feb. 11 public hearing on Senate Bill 5518 and Senate Bill 5519, the Oregon Department of Energy budget and companion fee bill, which drew more than a dozen in-person and remote testimonies pressing the Legislature to prioritize funding for heat-pump deployment, community renewable grants and solar/storage rebates while cautioning against a proposed 18% increase in the Energy Supplier Assessment.

Advocates front‑loaded calls to restore or add new state funding for two programs that help lower bills and increase resilience: a rental heat‑pump program and the Community Heat Pump Deployment Program. "These programs protect some of Oregon's most vulnerable residents," said Joey Boa, executive director of the Oregon Just Transition Alliance. Multiple speakers asked the Legislature to reinvest $30,000,000 in the rental heat‑pump program and $15,000,000 in the community heat‑pump deployment program for the 2025–27 biennium.

The request reflected administrators' testimony about current shortfalls. Molly Hatfield, senior manager at Earth Advantage and an administrator for the Community Heat Pump Deployment Program in the Northwest Region, said the program has overseen 249 installations in her region and that funding is already exhausted in some areas. "We have homeowners that are waiting, installers that are ready, and systems that are primed to continue these life‑saving heat pump installations. All that's lacking are the funds," Hatfield said.

Supporters also urged continued funding for community renewable grants and the Oregon Solar and Storage Rebate Program (OSSRP). Angela Crowley Cook, executive director of the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association, testified that OSSRP provides higher rebates for customers served by municipal or cooperative utilities and for low‑ and moderate‑income households and service providers. She corrected an earlier figure and reported that 39% of program funds went to low‑ and moderate‑income residents or low‑income service providers. Jerry Samaniego, solar sales manager at Benton Electric, gave examples of nonprofit and individual projects enabled by the rebate and urged full funding of the OSSRP at $20,000,000.

Several nonprofit and conservation groups — including Climate Solutions; Rogue Climate; Community Energy Project; Verde; Rewiring America; the Oregon Conservation Network; Renewable Northwest; and the Oregon Environmental Council — voiced similar support for ODOE's overall budget and for the two heat‑pump programs and a proposed $25,000,000 community renewable energy grant line in the Governor's recommended budget.

Not all testimony favored all parts of the department's funding plan. Jennifer Jolley of the Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities Association and Mike Friess of the Oregon People's Utility Districts Association, representing consumer‑owned utilities, opposed the budget's reliance on an 18% increase to the Energy Supplier Assessment (ESA). "Our customers are very nervous about increased rates," Friess said, noting ESA increases are passed through to utility customers. Jolley told the subcommittee that since the 2013–15 biennium the ESA has increased by 94.8% while inflation was 34.8% over the same period, and she urged the committee to “take a scalpel” to programs funded by the ESA or shift some costs to the general fund rather than raise the assessment again.

Testimony repeatedly flagged uncertainty in federal funding as a reason to consider state reinvestment. Several witnesses said federal support for heat‑pump and related programs is uncertain or exhausted; Rewiring America noted the $45,000,000 originally allocated to the two heat‑pump programs has already been fully awarded in many places and demand continues to outpace funding.

Speakers described concrete community impacts from existing programs: Dan Orsick of Oregon Clean Power Cooperative recounted projects that lowered operating costs for nonprofits such as Warm Springs Community Action Team and Old Mill Center in Corvallis; Molly Hatfield and Rogue Climate cited high percentages of installations serving lower‑income households and households that previously lacked cooling or adequate heating; and Benton Electric's Samaniego detailed a coastal widow who can now heat her home without high fuel costs.

The hearing was a public comment session only; no committee vote or direction was recorded. Co‑chair Levy closed the hearing and noted the subcommittee's next meeting would be Feb. 13, with a work session on the State Forestry Department cash‑flow repayment fund.

Ending: Public testimony underscored competing priorities in the ODOE budget: advocates pushed for statutory programs that directly reduce bills and improve resilience, while utility representatives urged caution about passing higher recovery assessments to customers. The subcommittee did not take action at the hearing.