Governor Vetoes Diversion of Ratepayer Funds
Posted on August 9, 2007 by oregoncub
Tags, Legislative & Political
Today, Gov. Ted Kulongoski took a break from signing the hundreds of new bills that passed into law in the 2007 Legislative Session—took a break, that is, to use his line-item veto power, to rescind the diversion of ratepayer money. The $4.6 million in question was going to be taken from the public purpose fund, created under a 1999 law to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. The public purpose funds were paid by PGE customers, and have been proven to result in lower rates and a cleaner energy system.
The intent of the Legislature was to help the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) with a serious financial issue they are facing. We here at CUB will continue to work with the Governor’s office and the rest of the informal coalition that has come together to help find the funds that OMSI needs. We think this can and will be done without taking money from utility ratepayers. After all, OMSI is as well-loved an Oregon institution as you will find anywhere in the state. We just think that helping the museum should not be the burden of a small subset of Oregon ratepayers.
In his letter regarding the veto, Gov. Kulongoski says, “the use of public purpose charge funds for this purpose [helping OMSI] is inappropriate.” We agree. He goes on to affirm the State’s position that: “Investment in energy conservation, the development of renewable energy resources and low-income weatherization and bill payment assistance are critically important to Oregon’s future as a leader in the sustainability movement. Use of public purpose charge dollars for general governmental purposes is inconsistent with that effort and is a break in trust with electricity consumers and those who supported and enacted the public purpose charge. It is important that we maintain inviolable sideboards on the use of public purpose charge funds.” We are very appreciative of the Governor’s veto, because it protects the PGE ratepayers whose money was being taken, and whose rates were going to increase as a result.
We are also appreciative of the willingness of the Legislative leadership and the Co-Chairs of the Ways and Means Committee that passed the bill, to be involved in working to find alternative solutions to the issue. We found during recent discussions that the public purpose fund—its boundaries, its origins, and its ultimate purpose—is not well enough understood by many in the Capitol building.
CUB Executive Director Bob Jenks had this to say about the veto and the protection of public purpose funds: “We give a lot of credit to the Governor for taking a stand to protect customers and energy efficiency programs by vetoing this diversion of public purpose funds. We also take some responsibility for the lack of understanding which led lawmakers to include the provision in the first place. We’re going to redouble our efforts at educating our leaders in Salem and the general public about what an important role these funds have in protecting our environment and keeping rates low.”
The veto would never have occurred without the public uproar that alerted the Governor’s office and Legislative leadership to the severity of the problem. We want to thank all the CUB members and other supporters who participated by contacting their elected leaders with a message to “stop the diversion of ratepayer money.”
It’s been nearly 2 months since the 2007 session ended and yet the session only really ended for CUB today. Now we’ll have the chance to sit back and take stock of the many wonderful changes that came from the Legislative session this year. We’ll be working on a Legislative round-up for you in the next few weeks.
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03/10/17 | 0 Comments | Governor Vetoes Diversion of Ratepayer Funds