Going Green at the 2012 International Portland Auto Show

The Portland International Auto Show , held on January 26-29, 2012, displayed the automobile industry’s newest and most popular car models. CUB Utility Analyst Gordon Feighner and I had the opportunity to attend the opening night of the show and participate in a special preview of the “Eco” section. A floor above the main show area, the ECO Center, which displayed approximately 40 “environmentally-friendly” vehicles that are certified as low- to no-emissions. Jeff Cogen, Multnomah County Chair, and Charlie Allcock, Director of… Full Post >>

CUB Attends the Northwest Public Service Career Fair

On Saturday, February 4th, CUB’s Business Director SA Anders and I had the pleasure of spending the morning with some of Oregon’s brightest and most enthusiastic law students at the NW Public Service Career Fair.  Each year, Lewis & Clark Law School hosts the Portland chapter of the fair, which seeks to link law students and alumni with opportunities to work with organizations that make a difference.  This career fair is unique in that, as the name suggests, it is geared toward students… Full Post >>

Kicking Off Bob’s 20th Anniversary Celebration

Last Wednesday, February 1st, CUB supporters and close friends of Bob Jenks came together to kick-off the celebration of Bob’s 20th anniversary as CUB’s Executive Director. Local brewpub Migration Brewing hosted the low-key event that included a few words from Bob and a commitment from attendees to support CUB in honoring Bob over the next year.

It was great to have people who worked on the original 1984 campaign to put CUB on the ballot, past co-workers of Bob’s at OSPIRG,… Full Post >>

Where are they now? Touching Base with Phil Kelsven

CUB has had a strong history of offering educational opportunities to students and young professionals interested in working in the energy sector and for the public interest. Our Schiach internship has been a great asset to CUB and we think it’s important to highlight some of the individuals who spent their time with us as interns, volunteers and board members throughout the years.

Phil Kelsven interned at CUB in 2005-2006 when he was completing his master’s degree in Economics from… Full Post >>

Energy Exporting: Still a Bad Idea

Though it is sometimes enjoyable, saying “I told you so” is usually not an indication that the best outcome of a situation has been achieved. That’s certainly the case with the pending applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals on the Oregon coast. In 2010, I wrote about these potential projects, which at that time were intended to be built to receive imports of LNG from the Middle East. Over the past couple of years, however, a sharp increase in the supply of shale gas… Full Post >>

January Fix It Fair Great Fun!

On Saturday, January 21st, Emmaline and I headed to Rosa Parks Elementary in North Portland for our second community Fix-it Fair.  The City of Portland hosts these fairs to connect Portland residents to information and resources that can help them save money and be healthy at home.  The fairs are free and open to the public.

We spoke to over 60 people about the CUB Connects project and ways they can better understand and select phone and internet service options in their… Full Post >>

Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency

Did you make energy efficiency improvements to your home in 2011? Did you buy any new energy efficient appliances through the Energy Trust of Oregon or other incentive programs? If you did either of these, you may qualify for tax credits on both the federal and state level.

For products purchased in 2011, to receive a federal tax credit you can file IRS form 5695 and enter the tax credit amount on line 52 of your 1040 form. Form 5695 must be… Full Post >>

A New Year Brings New Regulatory Challenges

Happy New Year from the CUB Regulatory Program!

Here at CUB, we are entering the New Year with new energy, new ideas, new staff assignments, and an assortment of interesting new dockets. And the Public Utility Commission (PUC) once more has THREE commissioners – welcome new Commissioner Steve Bloom! (Pictured above, left, with CUB staff Andrea Crosby and Bob Jenks)

Staff Assignments

At the end of December we bid “Bon Voyage!” to John Sturm, who reached… Full Post >>

What About Bob?

Twenty years ago this month, Bob Jenks started as CUB’s Executive Director. The Board picked Bob in December, 1991 right before he took off to marry his wife, Jill, and he started his new job in January 1992.  To honor his 20th Anniversary with CUB and two decades of leadership, accomplishments and wise-cracks, we will be doing a series of blogs about Bob.

First thing to know about Bob: he loves wise-cracks. My first experience presenting in front of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) was in… Full Post >>

CUB’s 2011 Accomplishments

Here at CUB, our small staff works tirelessly in the fight to keep utility rates fair and affordable for customers, while also ensuring that utility practices remain in line with our values as Oregonians. 2011 was another great year for CUB, full of many victories and accomplishments for Oregon ratepayers.

Here are a handful of our accomplishments from last year, broken down by the type of utility:

Electricity

• CUB helped negotiate an agreement designed to end 30 years of litigation… Full Post >>

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