CUB’s Second Annual Thanksgiving Top 10 List

In November 2012, the CUB blog featured a Top 10 list of our biggest reasons to be thankful as we welcomed the holiday season and prepared to close out the year. Since we at CUB have a seemingly endless supply of things to be thankful for, we thought it would be appropriate to continue this tradition.

So, for the second year in a row, here are the Top 10 Reasons that CUB is Thankful in 2013:

1. Our members, our members, our members! Without you we could cease to exist. You provide an endless font of ideas, funding to allow us to act on them, and moral support for our never ending battles with the utilities. You have stuck with us for twenty-nine years. You are our rock. Thank you for supporting our work – we wish you a very warm and happy Thanksgiving holiday!
2. Our allies. Without our allies CUB’s world would be a lonely one. There is a wonderful coalition of groups in Portland and beyond who support our work. Thank you allies!
3. Our successes at the Oregon Public Utility Commission and beyond. 2013 was a very successful year for our Regulatory program. We were delighted by wins such as Idaho Power’s coal plant retrofitting disallowance in April and the shot across the bow presented to PacifiCorp in regard to its 2013 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) in October. And of course there was the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals upholding of the Bonneville Power Administration Residential Exchange Program Settlement.
4. This year also brought a solid round of legislative victories during the 2013 Legislative Session including the passing of SB 692 (which implemented energy efficiency standards for certain household appliances) and the defeat of all proposed bills that involved weakening Oregon’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. You can read more about this year’s legislative victories here.
5. CUB is also thankful for, and to, our dedicated Board of Directors, all our Staff, law clerks, law externs, non-legal externs and volunteers who have contributed to CUB’s work throughout the year. You will have seen new names – Jaime our Senior Utility Analyst, Erin our spring legal extern, Kaylie our summer law clerk, William our fall legal extern, Heather our Americorps member, Tracy our MBA non-legal extern, Tania our MPA non-legal extern, Sam and Lindsey who help with mailings, and Amelia our Development Associate. And older names who are no longer with us – Caitlin, Gabby, Stephanie, and Andrea – each of whom contributed to CUB in their own way. Our thanks to all of you.
6. We are also extremely grateful to have received generous grants this year from the Energy Foundation and the Bullitt Foundation to continue the timely and important work of our Transition From Coal project. CUB extends heartfelt thanks to these two foundations for their support!
7. Some of you may have attended our third annual CUB Policy Conference, The Flexibility Challenge which was a smashing success. We appreciate your participation and hope that you benefited from the full day of discussion and debate around energy flexibility and policy issues. Thank you for making our conference a sell-out success for the third year in a row!
8. 2013 also brought great progress and success to our Electric Vehicles program and other community outreach projects. We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with the Confluence Environmental Center, through which we were able to continue hosting an AmeriCorps position into 2014.
9. And we are thankful for all the opportunities provided to CUB staff to go out and speak evangelizing to the world about the work that CUB is doing. Bob spoke at the NW Environmental Business Council’s Energy Forum series and participated in a coal exports panel debate at Lewis & Clark law school. Ghassan facilitated a series of community workshops on telecommunications issues, Stephanie and Lindsey participated in many street fairs, and Catriona, Sommer, Jaime, and Nadine participated in various National Association of State Utility Advocate meetings.
10. And we are thankful for another year of CUB Connects. Ghassan continues to ramp up this program which we hope you are finding useful. As you’re considering your holiday phone purchases, check it out at: CUBConnects.org.

Every year we’re so proud of our community, our work, and the folks that support CUB’s mission: to represent you as a consumer advocate. We wish you a warm and happy Thanksgiving!

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