Public commenters urge electrification; staff presents policy options and committee selects representatives for joint meeting

Several residents and advocacy groups urged Bend’s advisory committee to support electrification policies during public comment, and city staff presented an analysis of policy options that range from education and incentives to potential local regulations — some of which carry legal risk.

Public commenters described local wildfire and health impacts linked to fossil fuels and methane. Kelly Kinkade identified herself as a Bend resident and said electrification had helped residents in her LEED Gold–certified building and asked the committee to back measures including a right-of-way restriction, a low-NOx ordinance, a Just Transition Fund and continued outreach. Noel Nelson and Mike Reed described longer, drier summers and growing wildfire risk as reasons to accelerate electrification. Julianne Moratti, a retired nurse practitioner, cited recent research and health concerns about methane and indoor air pollutants, saying, “Methane is more toxic than secondhand smoke.” Brennan Breen of Energize Bend urged the committee to endorse the Environment and Climate Committee’s full recommendations to city council, including a low-NOx ordinance restricting gas expansion in the public right of way and creation of a Just Transition Fund.

City senior management analyst Cassie Lacy presented background on the city’s electrification project and the phase‑1 research completed for a policy-options analysis. She told the committee that Bend’s climate goals, adopted in 2016, call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and 70% by 2050, and the city has completed a policy matrix and a building‑stock study. Lacy said the project team compiled roughly 25 policy options, grouped as state-level advocacy, education/support programs (including a proposed energy navigator), incentives (financial and nonfinancial), local regulations (right-of-way restrictions, NOx standards, building performance standards), fees (permit or carbon-impact fees) and potential local amendments to the building code.

Lacy and city attorney advisor Mary Winters cautioned the committee about legal uncertainty surrounding regulation of natural gas. Winters summarized recent court decisions that have limited local authority in some jurisdictions (noting litigation over Berkeley‑style restrictions and pending cases over air-district NOx rules), and advised a “wait-and-see” approach on some regulatory paths while pursuing lower-risk programs such as outreach and incentive design.

The Environment and Climate Committee earlier recommended pursuing a right-of-way restriction and pairing regulatory approaches with incentives and outreach; city council directed staff to meet with other advisory bodies, including this affordable housing committee, and to continue analysis in a second, deeper phase.

Committee members raised cost and equity concerns: Mandy Dalrymple and other members asked how electrification would affect energy bills for low-income households, noting local energy‑burden data indicating a portion of county households already spend a high share of income on energy. Isabel (Isabelle) Milkovich urged staff to examine whether any fee on gas utilities would be passed through to customers and to consider safeguards so low‑income and affordable housing residents are not disproportionately affected.

The committee agreed to send three representatives to a joint meeting with the Environment and Climate Committee and staff on Feb. 24 (Isabel Milkovich, Heather Simmons and Ian Karras volunteered) to review ECC recommendations, the staff policy matrix, and to identify what additional data or trade‑off analysis the committee wants before making a recommendation to council.

No council action was taken at this meeting; staff will return with more detailed analysis in a second phase that will include broader stakeholder engagement and, where appropriate, quantified impacts of proposed policies.

Cassie Lacy said staff will scope an energy navigator program and pursue outreach and stakeholder engagement as near-term steps while deeper legal and fiscal analysis continues.