Looking to reduce its carbon footprint, an Oregon city is weighing whether to charge developers a fee for installing natural gas appliances instead of electric.
Why the focus on gas appliances? Transportation contributes the most to Bend, Oregon's carbon footprint, but residences come in second, according to a report the city manager's office and BrightLine Group, a Colorado and Mississippi-based consultancy firm, presented to the City Council last week.
The City Council hopes that a fee will inspire more developers to install electric appliances, but the exact charge has not been determined. Although the presentation focused heavily on energy and gas usage for single-family homes, the council stated that it may impose fees on all new residential developments.
Whereas gas baseline equipment produces 64.5 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, switching to efficient electric upgrades would reduce the community's footprint by 27%, according to the presentation.
The proposal comes at a time when construction is ebbing in Bend. In 2024, 1,126 single-family homes and multifamily residences were built. That's down from 1,356 in 2023 and 1,287 in 2022, according to the presentation. Sixty percent of the homes built in Bend since 2000 have natural gas heating systems, the groups reported, and 86% of those built between 2021 and 2023 use it.
The council is slated to reconvene on the issue in December, following the end of the public comment period. If approved, the final fees and exemptions could be determined as early as January.
Other Oregon cities have taken similar actions. Ashland assesses a gas appliance fee. Eugene has taken it a step further, banning gas hookups in new residences in 2023.
Cities across the country are phasing out dependency on natural gas.