Citizens' Utility Board of Oregon: Clean Energy Bill Going to Become a Law!

There has been dancing in the streets, or at least around our desks, after the passage of SB 838, the Renewable Energy Standard, by the Oregon House yesterday, with a final vote of 41-18. The passage of this bill means that by 2025, 25% of Oregon's electrical power needs will be met by new renewable energy sources. This is the most significant move Oregon has yet made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address global warming.

CUB feels like we have a won an Academy Award and so, before the music swells, we'd like to thank Governor Ted Kulongoski for his leadership on this bill, ably assisted by Staffer Peter Cogswell, Jeremiah Baumann of OSPIRG for tenacity and temerity in the face of huge opposition, Senator Brad Avakian, without whom the bill would not have begun its journey in the Oregon Senate, Representative Jackie Dingfelder, who made a fantastic showing in the Oregon House, and Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp, who helped organize support for the RES. CUB received some criticism for working with the utilities on this bill, but we say the end result speaks for itself: together we passed a strong bill that is going to keep Oregon clean and prosperous for the long haul. A large coalition of environmental groups and other stakeholders also played a large role and those groups deserve our thanks (some standouts include OLCV, the Oregon Conservation Network, the Oregon Business Alliance, EWEB, Oregon AFL-CIO, Renewable Northwest Project, Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities, Portland Jobs with Justice, and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon).

CUB thanks all of our members who made phone calls and emails and trips to Salem in support of SB 838. And most of all, CUB staff and board members wish to thank our own Jeff Bissonnette, CUB Organizing Director and Man In Salem, who worked strategically and unceasingly to bring about this victory. And we thank our families, especially our mothers...

We tracked down Jeff, who had this to say about the passage of the RES: "Customers can rest a little easier knowing that, not only does this bill take us a big step forward in protecting our children's future, but also protects all of us against steep carbon-related rate hikes in coming years." When asked if he could relax a little now, he raised his eyebrows (through the phone line) and responded, "We still have quite an agenda going on."

The bill goes back to the Senate for a concurrence vote and then on to the Governor's desk. Passing the RES makes Oregon one of 22 states who have passed some sort of renewable energy legislation, and Oregon being Oregon, our bill is one of the very strongest in the nation. It's a wonderful success, and it WILL make a difference.

By the way, this is our 100th blog entry. We began this series of CUB Online newsletters with the news of our victory in the PUC decision to not approve the Texas Pacific purchase of PGE. We love having good news to share with you today, 99 emails later, as well.

May 24, 2007

Clean Energy Bill Going to Become a Law!

Comments