EDITORIAL: Let the state know what Oregon should do about decarbonizing
Aug. 13—The push to give cities in Oregon more leverage to decarbonize buildings got defanged in the Legislature this year. Instead, the bill got a do-over. It created a task force to look at ways to decarbonize buildings.
If opponents of Senate Bill 1518 thought they won a victory, it seems they won a delay. The task force has a list of policy options it is getting ready for the 2023 Legislature that are even more wide-ranging. Maybe legislators won't take action on all of them. But watching the options the task force is considering could be like looking into a crystal ball to see Oregon's energy future. That's especially true if Democrats continue to control the Legislature and the governor's office after November.
Electrify. Electrify. Electrify.
That's a consistent theme. Natural gas for heat, for cooking? Yes there are voices on the task force who keep bringing up how natural gas should continue to play a role. Maybe we are wrong, but those voices sure don't seem to reflect the majority view. The task force wants renewable electricity to be king.
We could hear it Tuesday, Aug. 9, in the discussion about a possible new mission for the Energy Trust of Oregon. The discussion was to change its mission. The Energy Trust gets its money from customers of the big utilities and uses it to stoke energy efficiency. It is now fuel neutral. Electricity and natural gas are both OK. The proposal is to change its purpose to greenhouse gas reduction and equity. Oregon's natural gas companies may not appreciate that.
We could hear the call for the electricity focus in the discussion of electric heat pumps. Heat pumps can heat and cool. They do what they do very efficiently. Task force members talked about ways to encourage more people to install them — incentives on top of any new federal incentives or existing incentives.
There was even a discussion about the state bypassing the choices consumers or builders make for appliances in new homes and going to manufacturers and distributors. The thinking is incentives or rules could guide manufacturers and distributors to offer only options powered by electricity and that are high-efficiency. Then no "wrong" choices would be made.
Another topic that came up is to follow California's lead on requiring appliances to be "smart." Smart in this context is that appliances can schedule their use when there is less electricity demand. So maybe your car charger or dishwasher kicks itself on at 1 a.m. That could help spread out the energy demand over the day and reduce the need for peak electric capacity. Oregonians might like it, if they could control it. They might not like it if someone else was switching their appliances on and off.
What's missing in these discussions is the input of Oregonians. Yes, there are many fine people on the task force and they represent different perspectives and interests. You should take a look at the ideas on the table and tell them what you want. You can see the concepts under consideration here, tinyurl.com/Oregon081022. And you can tell the task force what you think by email here, JTFREB.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov.
