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Bend committee debates whether electrification funds should target existing homes or new construction
Summary
Commission members pushed for prioritizing expensive retrofits for low-income and renter households, while others urged measures that prevent future gas infrastructure in new construction; the committee favored a balanced, tiered approach and asked staff for scenarios showing equity and cost-effectiveness tradeoffs.
Committee members in Bend spent much of Wednesday's discussion arguing over where limited electrification dollars will do the most good. Several commissioners urged focusing on existing homes, low-income households and renters because retrofits are costly and those residents face acute energy burdens; they said the program should include higher rebates or targeted whole-home packages for those groups.
Other members said targeted new-construction measures can prevent future expansion of gas infrastructure and may be more administratively straightforward. Specific proposals included prioritizing deep electrification incentives for affordable-housing developers and tiered incentive levels for income-qualified applicants. Staff and the consultant agreed to return with more detailed modeling that compares reach, cost-per-ton of GHG avoided, and the administrative complexities of serving existing versus new construction.
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