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Bend council adopts CCAP update; councilors direct staff to develop electrification fee and incentives
Summary
At the May 8 ECC meeting staff said Bend City Council adopted the Climate and Community Action Plan update and directed staff to pursue a fee similar to Ashland's to fund electrification incentives. Committee members pressed for more data on cost and equity and discussed the legal and stakeholder steps ahead.
City of Bend staff told the Energy and Climate Committee on May 8 that the City Council adopted the Climate and Community Action Plan (CCAP) update and gave direction to pursue an electrification policy that would use a fee as a disincentive and dedicate revenue toward incentives.
Staff said council members were “enthusiastic and unanimous” in support of the CCAP update but asked staff to refine how the city could use fee revenue to expand electrification incentives. The staff presentation described a process that will include a joint advisory committee, non-voting participation from utilities, targeted outreach to builders and trades, and a work session with council in August to present a concrete process and timeline. Staff said public engagement on the policy would begin in the fall after additional data collection over the summer.
Why it matters: council direction to pursue a fee alters Bend’s approach to electrification policy by prioritizing a revenue-backed incentive program rather than immediate regulatory bans. The decision frames staff work over the coming months and shapes the public process for electrification measures that could affect builders, homeowners and renters.
Committee members agreed the council’s direction creates a clear next step, but several members urged more analysis before an ordinance is drafted. One ECC member said the group should not move forward without “due diligence,” noting the need for quantified estimates of both costs to households and expected carbon reductions. Others on the committee responded that the direction is to develop a public process to test options and that council did not adopt an ordinance immediately.
Staff and committee members discussed legal and jurisdictional constraints. Staff said the committee should monitor regional and federal litigation affecting NOx and related regulations and noted cases are being litigated in other districts; staff said that legal outcomes could affect what local governments can or cannot require. Staff said they would track actions in other cities and air district rulings to inform Bend’s options.
Key implementation details staff laid out include: forming a joint advisory committee that may include developers and trades as non-voting participants; inviting utilities to participate in an ex officio role so they can respond to technical questions; collecting local cost data on electrification and utility rate impacts over the summer; and returning to council with a more specific public-process plan at an August work session. Staff said Cascade Natural Gas has indicated willingness to participate in the advisory process; discussions with electric utilities are ongoing.
Concerns raised during discussion included the affordability of any fee for households in Bend, how to craft findings to defend a fee if it becomes an ordinance, and the city’s need to analyze local utility rates (committee members noted electricity costs differ significantly between Bend and cities used as examples). Staff and committee members agreed that any ordinance would require legal findings and supporting data to withstand review and potential challenges tied to housing cost statutes and appeals.
Next steps: staff will collect additional data this summer, finalize the proposed advisory committee structure, and present a more detailed proposal at the August work session. The public engagement process is planned to begin in the fall after Council’s August check-in.
