From left: USDA’s Margi Hoffman, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas and USDA’s Andrew Berke attend the April 5 roundtable at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery in Aurora. Agricultural businesses and rural communities need investments in infrastructure and clean energy to become more resilient to climate change. That was the message at a roundtable discussion this month for federal officials to hear from Oregon agricultural producers, rural community leaders and others. The event took place at Little Prince of Oregon Nursery in Aurora. U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas and Andrew Berke, administrator for U ..read more

Smiths has completed 37 energy efficiency projects within the last 10 years. Their incentivized capital projects have hit nearly every major industrial energy system, including compressed air, refrigeration compressors, condensers, evaporators, HVAC, lighting, pumping, completely revamping their refrigeration systems, resulting in nearly 11 million annual kWh of estimated savings – and counting. Spearheading Smith’s energy efficiency operations are Gary Crowder, president of Smith’s Frozen Foods; Ron Knapp, primary project developer of refrigeration; and Ken Tombarge, general supervisin ..read more

This is a part of a series of blog posts amplifying community voices. Karen Rugg’s longtime interest in sustainability and the built environment led her to get a master’s degree in city and regional planning, focusing on real estate development and sustainable affordable housing. She later transitioned into commercial construction, where she attained LEED accreditation and began implementing ways to make projects, jobsites and office operations more sustainable. After moving to Bend in 2018, she co-founded Perennial Building with her partner Ashley Bice and soon began developing a mixed-use pr ..read more

Sylvia Sanchez, the property owner of a condominium in Portland, acquired her residence in 2014 and has lived there ever since. Similar to many first-time homeowners, she faced a range of challenges upon moving into her new condo. In the first two years of living at her condo, Sanchez had issues with heat loss, recalling, “I had a wind tunnel going through my bathroom, it was freezing in there all the time.” Not only was she dealing with the discomfort of constantly being cold, but she was also experiencing incredibly high utility bills. In her search for a solution, Sanchez stumbled across En ..read more

Following the deadly heatwave in the summer of 2021 – during which over 100 Oregonians died of heat-related illnesses, many in their own homes –  the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1536. The legislation seeks to increasing access to cooling spaces, in part through new Oregon Health Authority programs, requiring new residential housing to provide adequate cooling facilities and establishing a Heat Pump Deployment Program.     The bill directed the Oregon Department of Energy to develop the Oregon Cooling Needs Study to provide an assessment of cooling needs for r ..read more

This year in Eastern Oregon, Energy Trust of Oregon lighting trade ally Blue Mountain Electric has helped nearly 50 small businesses upgrade to LEDs at no cost. Blue Mountain Electric is a family business owned by Heather and Shane Blagg, who have operated in Pendleton for more than a decade. As a Business Lighting trade ally and direct installer, they work with Energy Trust to help deploy its direct install lighting offer throughout the region. This unique incentive helps small businesses upgrade to LEDs at little to no cost, saving them upfront costs and long-term energy costs. Since Mar ..read more

Federal tax credits created through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to help people make their homes more energy efficient can help Oregonians save even more this tax season. The credits cover many of the same home energy upgrades that Energy Trust offers cash incentives for, meaning customers can claim tax credits in addition to getting Energy Trust incentives for upgrades made in 2023. Understanding the details of the tax credits and incentives is key to taking advantage of all available savings. Home improvements that qualify for tax credits through IRA include: Insulation: Adding or upgr ..read more

Since his career in architecture began, Nate McCoy has been working to ensure that people of color, business owners of color and contractors of color have equal access and opportunity to bid and work on public and private infrastructure projects. He started nearly 20 years ago on the policy side of housing and economic growth—first at the Portland Housing Bureau and later at Prosper Portland—applying an equity lens as a manager of projects and procurement, working to break down his agency’s barriers to economic success for communities of color. Since 2015, he has been President and CEO of NAM ..read more

Kailash Ecovillage is a community that provides sustainable urban living through co-housing, garden landscapes and learning spaces where residents have their own private accommodations while also enjoying shared activities and a sense of community. When the dilapidated Kenneth Allen apartments next door became available, co-founder Ole Ersson and property manager Caleb Rice, jumped at the chance to purchase the property and start the process to create another sustainable community. “I started the conversation with the owner about acquiring the property a couple of years ago, and one t ..read more

Les Perkins will join the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC) following Oregon Senate confirmation earlier this month. Perkins, who served on the Hood River County Board of Commissioners since 2001, previously worked as general manager at Farmers Irrigation District in Hood River. The district has been a leader in the state in irrigation modernization, which involves upgrading infrastructure to save water and generate hydropower using the pressure and flow of water in piped systems. Perkins also helped start Farmers Conservation Alliance, which works with Energy Trust to help irrigation di ..read more