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Council hears push for Home Energy Score ordinance amid affordability, equity concerns
Summary
City residents and regional climate advocates urged Lacey to adopt a Home Energy Score ordinance to improve transparency for homebuyers and encourage efficiency upgrades; council members raised questions about cost burdens on sellers, assessor capacity, exemptions for low-income or senior homeowners, and the need for financing to make scores actionable.
Tom Crawford, a Thurston Climate Action Team board member, urged the Lacey City Council to accelerate consideration of a Home Energy Score ordinance, saying the program would give homebuyers comparable information about a home’s energy performance and incentivize efficiency upgrades. “It will provide greater transparency for home purchasers on the energy-efficiency features of homes that they're considering,” Crawford said during public comment.
Lacey resident Stephanie Scott and Lynn Fitzhugh of Restoring Earth Connection also urged the council to align with neighboring jurisdictions that have adopted HES. Fitzhugh described the audit cost as “between $200 and $300” and said jurisdictions are discussing exemptions and subsidies to reduce burdens.
City staff said Olympia and Thurston County have adopted HES ordinances with one-year effective dates and that program implementation work is underway regionally. Lindsay, Lacey’s climate coordinator, told council members staff are participating in the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative to design program details including assessor certification, quality assurance and potential exemptions or subsidies.
Council members pressed staff on multiple policy and equity questions: who pays the assessor fee, whether sellers will pass the cost to buyers and thereby increase listing prices, how older homes and seniors might be disadvantaged by lower scores, how many certified assessors are available locally, and whether an energy score alone will prompt retrofits without financing or incentives. One council member described the risk that a required score could create “bias” in buyer search behavior; Lindsay pointed to Portland’s experience and said jurisdictions are discussing exemptions for income or rapid sales and potential subsidy models.
Staff outlined enforcement approaches under discussion, including requiring an HES to be attached to MLS listings to capture most transactions and targeted outreach to realtors, plus third‑party QA/QC where a proportion of assessments are reassessed for accuracy. Council members repeatedly stressed affordability concerns and asked staff to present data on program impacts and financing pathways before recommending ordinance adoption.
No ordinance vote was taken. Staff said the item remains on the work program for 2027 and that they will return with more detailed cost estimates, implementation plans, and responses to council questions.
