Oregon lawmakers approved a transportation funding stopgap in the special session that ended Monday.

In recent rate cases, we have secured big wins for customers and the climate! This spring, we reached an agreement with Avista Gas to reduce climate pollution through an electrification pilot. In our NW Natural rate case, we have an agreement to eliminate gas subsidies for developers, and we are still fighting to improve energy choice for low-income customers.

The grid is the ‘superhighway’ on which electricity travels. It is a vast network of transmission lines and infrastructure that delivers the electricity we need to power our daily lives (i.e., our homes, businesses, and industrial sites). The grid is crucial for maintaining reliable and affordable power for Oregonians. Importantly, the grid must also evolve to accommodate our state’s clean energy transition and to serve our growing population and economy. Two recently passed pieces of legislation will help modernize the grid, relieving congestion and streamlining permitting of new transmission lines.

Last week, Governor Kotek signed two bills into law, HB 2065 and HB 2066, which will create a process for developing community-owned microgrids. Microgrids are a key part of Oregon’s decarbonization and energy resiliency goals. But their development has been hampered by technical and regulatory challenges. What are microgrids, why has building them been challenging, and how does this legislation help?

Something is up, and unfortunately, it may be a higher utility bill for Oregon gas customers. In a time when communities are already bracing for Congressional Republicans’ new energy tax hike, NW Natural Gas Company is trying to raise costs on Oregonians as well. Even worse, they aim to raise our gas bills to boost their shareholders’ profits and invest in expensive fuels under the guise of decarbonization, rather than providing lower-income customers with the option to install an energy-efficient heat pump! Climate Solutions does not intervene in every rate case, but when we think there is an opportunity to protect customers and the climate, we enter the ring. This is one of those cases!

The impacts of climate change have already been deeply impacting our communities. From extreme weather, wildfires, to essential home needs like electricity, becoming more expensive. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable in our communities will experience these harmful changes even more than we can imagine, if we don’t act now for equitable solutions.

Oregon’s 2025 legislative session delivered mixed results for climate progress. Sound familiar? That’s because this is the second year in a row that Oregon lawmakers fell short of delivering the bold investments and climate action this moment demands. While we secured hard-fought wins and defended against serious threats that would unwind existing progress, this was far from a banner year for climate action in Oregon. Still, this session laid important groundwork, and we have a clear call to action for the road ahead.

Will legislators ensure that Oregonians are safe from rapidly rising temperatures and skyrocketing utility prices?

Oregon’s legislative session is almost over, and lawmakers have only passed one of nine critical bills in the Energy Affordability and Resilience Package. The rest are still sitting on the table, and we need your help to move them forward.

Oregon lawmakers have taken action to improve public oversight of gas utilities’ hydrogen “pipe dreams.”