If you’re an Oregon customer of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, Northwest Natural, Cascade Natural Gas or Avista, that monthly “public purpose charge” line on your bill is funding energy efficiency across the state.
Those dollars go to Energy Trust of Oregon, a nonprofit created through the Legislature in 1999, and they add up.
Last year, Energy Trust spent about $350 million helping Oregon homes and businesses switch to renewable energy sources or to become more energy efficient.
Energy-efficient and climate resilient homes constructed by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Dec. 11, 2023 in Grand Ronde, Oregon. Energy Trust of Oregon offered solar incentives to support the project.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
It offers discounts on LED lighting, cash incentives for energy-efficient upgrades, financing for commercial equipment projects and a host of other programs.
Since its founding, the nonprofit has supported energy-saving projects at more than 840,000 homes and businesses across the state. All told, the energy saved through that work would be enough to power 1 million homes for a year.
The 2.4 million people and businesses served by Energy Trust can see which offerings they may be eligible for at energytrust.org/
