4.1 Customer Decarbonization Introduction and Policy Language from SD15
EWEB Climate Change Policy SD15 – Customer Decarbonization Section
The Board further authorizes, delegates, and directs the General Manager to assist customers with achieving their GHG emission reduction goals through partnerships, technical assistance, resources, and programs that support, but are not limited to, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, electric and water conservation, electrification, and carbon offsets and sequestration.
Long-term conservation, energy efficiency, and demand-response goals are established as part of the IRP process. Additional program objectives, incentives and budgets will be established annually, as applicable, and/or through revisions to the strategic plan.
Since 2011, EWEB has aligned its investments in energy efficiency with forecasted load growth. As a result, EWEB’s electric load has remained relatively flat despite our growth in population. EWEB has a great legacy for innovating energy efficiency programs and consistently investing in conservation to lower customer costs and simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution.
This legacy began two generations ago when visionary EWEB Board members and staff embraced a wholistic path towards mitigating the need for new generation by managing demand with customer-centric conservation programs. EWEB’s energy efficiency programs were the first in the northwest and even preceded BPA programs by several years. In 1976, EWEB embraced the latest advances in home insulation and began offering home audits and certifications. These early innovative programs plotted EWEB’s future as a leader in conservation. In recent years, EWEB customers have benefited from mature and robust conservation programs undertaken by the utility. When other BPA customers fall short of conservation targets, EWEB has been the beneficiary, receiving additional reimbursements, above and beyond that which is embedded in the BPA power costs borne by our community.
Changes to EWEB’s future resource portfolio, coupled with increased energy consumption across the region, require a deeper look at how EWEB will optimize supply resources through cost-effective, demand-side customer engagement to secure reliability. As EWEB builds its future resource portfolio, reliability goals will increase the need for conservation efforts that have been historically centered around the utility values of affordability and the environment.
EWEB’s Energy Resource Study and Demand Side Potential Assessment (See Chapter 3) seek to quantify conservation potential and define the relevant price thresholds for “cost-effective” energy efficiency and demand response programs to deliver the greatest benefit to all stakeholders. As society undergoes the largest energy transformation since the industrial revolution, there are additional opportunities to engage with our community, reduce harm to disadvantaged populations, and increase our resilience to natural disasters simultaneously.
Content currently included in v3.0:
- Information on existing Green Options customer programs and incentives that help customers decarbonize:
- Live Green: Energy Conservation Programs for Residential Customers
- Work Green: Energy Conservation for Commercial Customers (General Service)
- Move Green: Programs to Support Electric Mobility
- Lead Green: Advanced Solutions for Climate Innovators
- Appendix D – EWEB’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy SD23
- Appendix E – EWEB’s Carbon Intensity Guidance
- Appendix F – EWEB’s Role in City of Eugene’s CAP2.0
Content planned for future Guidebook Versions:
- Definitions and metrics regarding how EWEB programs reach and support diverse segments of our customer base, informed by the DSPA
- Enhanced options of rate design
Explore this webpage: 4.2.1 Live Green | 4.2.2 Work Green | 4.2.3 Move Green | 4.2.4 Lead Green
Through EWEB’s Climate Change Policy SD15, the Board directed staff to expand on options for customer decarbonization. Staff responded with the development and roll out of Green Options, which are voluntary programs designed to help customers reduce their carbon footprint in a variety of ways. The Green Options programs includes four areas of focus: Live Green, Work Green, Move Green, and Lead Green as described. A guiding principle of customer programs is to offer value-added products, accessible to all customer segments, facilitating carbon reduction based on individual customer preferences.
4.2.1 Live Green – Energy Conservation for Residential Customers
Live Green includes incentives and zero interest loans for home investments that can save energy, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the safety and comfort in homes. Residential programs experienced high demand in 2024. Total residential projects (Residential + Limited Income) increased by 40% between 2023 and 2024 with Residential Limited Income projects increasing by 55%. Federal and State funding, combined with EWEBs incentives and outreach led to significant increases in residential project volume, and zero interest loan balances. EWEB issued 500 residential loans in 2024 compared with 300 in 2023, a 67% increase.
In addition to rate-funded programs, EWEB is a proactive partner with agencies that contribute external grant funding to our service territory. In 2024, EWEB distributed grants worth $234,000 for energy efficiency projects in moderate income households, $532,000 in septic grants within the McKenzie Watershed, and $265,000 from the Oregon Community Heat Pump Deployment program.
Links and Relevant Resources:
- EWEB Website: Residential Energy Conservation Programs
4.2.2 Work Green – Energy Conservation for Commercial & Industrial (General Service) Customers
Incentives and loans for commercial and industrial investments that can save energy, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the operational efficiency of businesses. These may include standardized measures or custom projects specific to the facility.
EWEBs commercial customers contribute heavily to energy efficiency, with low cost, high-impact projects. From 2019 – 2024, the commercial sector contributed 75,000 MWhs of energy savings, with the support of $72 in incentives. These savings represent a significant share of total conservation. Over the past two years, in fact, commercial and industrial energy efficiency projects received about 40% of the total available incentives, yet accounted for nearly 78% of the total energy savings (54% for commercial and 24% for industrial).
Commercial electrification projects also help to reduce carbon emissions within the community. In the past 6 years, commercial customers have received over $200,000 incentives to support transportation electrification and $260,000 for building electrification.
Links and Relevant Resources:
- EWEB Website: Commercial Energy Conservation Programs
4.2.3 Move Green – Transportation Electrification
Leveraging financial support from the State of Oregon Clean Fuels Program, EWEB offers various incentives and efforts to facilitate the switch from fossil fuel-based transportation options to electric options. As a load serving entity, EWEB allocates Clean Fuels Credit funding (CFCs) to equitably balance EWEB’s values of reliability and community and to optimize the benefits and impacts to all customers.
According to the Oregon Department of Energy and its Oregon Electric Vehicle Dashboard, as of October 2024, there were 5,375 electric vehicles in EWEB’s service territory, nearly a 35% increase from August 2023, resulting in over 14,800 MT reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions. Of these vehicles, 5,129 fall under the categories of cars, light trucks, SUV, and vans, bringing over 14,100 MT reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions for this subgroup. Emissions calculations assume a reduction of 2.75 MT CO2e per EV per year compared to an internal combustion engine as described in EWEB’s 2021 Electrification Study (see Chapter 3)[1].
In 2024, EWEB invested in $835,000 of Oregon Clean Fuel Program funding into transportation electrification programs including rebates for EV charging infrastructure; incentives for e-bikes; electric mobility community grants for non-profit, academic, and public organizations; and electric vehicle car share programs at low-income housing developments.
As mentioned in Chapter 2, in 2024 Clean Fuel Program credits significantly decreased in value. Credit prices had been fairly stable and consistently over $100 per credit since 2018, but dropped to under $30 in Sept 2024. Average credit prices in the early months of 2025 are in the low to mid-$40s. This will impact the amount of funding EWEB has available to invest in transportation electrification initiatives in coming years.
Links and Relevant Resources:
- EWEB Website: Electric Mobility Programs
- State of Oregon Website: Clean Fuels Program
- State of Oregon Website: Oregon Electric Vehicle Dashboard
4.2.4 Lead Green – Advanced Solutions for Climate Innovators
For customers that have done all they can to maximize energy efficiency at home and at work, or adopt electric transportation, EWEB offers programs for customers eager to do more. EWEB’s Lead Green program includes a suite of additional product offerings including:
- Cleanpower
- Greenpower
- Solar Electric Program
- Carbon Forestry Lab
| Lead Green - Participation and Direct Carbon Impacts |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Total Participants | 1,707 | 1,629 | 1,590 | 1,590 | 1,622 | 1,660 | * |
| Contributed Revenues | $234,098 | $212,421 | $193,438 | $192,587 | $199,419 | $198,341 | $183,411 |
| Renewable Energy (MWh) | 22,593 | 20,439 | 18,578 | 18,520 | 19,392 | 19,731 | 16,346 |
| Carbon Offsets | Carbon Offset program launched April 2022 | 16 | 59 | 67 | |||
| EWEB Carbon Intensity | 0.015 | 0.055 | 0.026 | 0.040 | 0.034 | 0.034 | 0.036 |
| Total MT CO2e | 339 | 1124 | 483 | 741 | 791 | 730 | 662 |
* Reporting on total participation was not available at the time of publish due to the new Customer information system (SAP)
Cleanpower
EWEB Cleanpower invites customers to voluntarily match their energy usage with the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Cleanpower is EWEB’s most cost-effective program for the bulk purchase of RECs to enable large customers to address their carbon emissions from electricity use through investment in new renewable electricity sources. Investing in RECs allows developers of wind, solar and other renewable energy resources to build more zero-emission generation, because they know they will be supported financially.
Greenpower
EWEB Greenpower is a voluntary program for customers who want to support the development of local renewable energy. Like Cleanpower, Greenpower customers also match their electricity usage with the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to address the carbon emissions from electricity use by investing in new renewable energy sources. But Greenpower goes beyond simply purchasing RECs by supporting the development of local solar projects and providing grants for community environmental projects.
Funds generated from the voluntary Greenpower program also provide $50,000 Greenpower Grants to local non-profit organizations for renewable energy projects, clean energy education, the adoption of emerging technologies, or projects that increase carbon sequestration. Greenpower customers vote every two years on which projects they want to fund. Greenpower is available to all EWEB customer categories. The next round of funding will be voted on in 2025. In 2023, Greenpower subscribers awarded the grant to Friends of Trees. This was the third time Friends of Trees had received the grant, having won the grant in 2018 and 2021. Their latest grant funded the expansion of their neighborhood tree program into areas in Eugene with low tree equity scores. In addition to sequestering carbon while the trees grow, enhancing the urban tree canopy can mitigate the urban heat island effect by providing shade, reducing surface temperatures, reducing energy consumption, and promoting evaporative cooling. Other past grant recipients include the Eugene Mission and St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County.
Solar Electric Program
Greenpower customers help support local solar installations by funding EWEB Solar Electric Program. Commercial and Residential customers can receive incentives for installation and may receive bill credits during periods where solar generation exceeds energy use.
| Eugene Cumulative Solar Installations, Residential and Commercial, 2001-2024 | |||
|
System Type |
Total Projects |
Total Capacity (MW) |
Annual Energy (MWh) |
|
Net Metered |
1,367 |
9.2 |
9,366 |
|
Direct Generation |
49 |
2.9 |
2,937 |
|
Total |
1,416 |
12.0 |
12,303 |
Figure 17: Eugene Solar Installations, Residential and Commercial, 2001-2024
Carbon Forestry Lab
The Carbon Forest Lab is an opportunity to invest in local carbon forestry projects aimed at expanding our understanding of natural climate solutions and enhancing the McKenzie Watershed, EWEB’s sole source of drinking water. EWEB has partnered with cutting-edge researchers at the University of Oregon to explore ways to quantify and enhance natural climate solutions (NCS). The World Economic Forum defines natural climate solutions as, “actions that avoid greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage in forests, grasslands, and wetlands.”[2]
The project seeks to answer a few core questions:
- What kinds of plants and trees sequester the most carbon?
- How can we maximize carbon sequestration in the soil to ensure long term capture that is impervious to wildfire?
- What is the best planting method for long-term planting success?
- How do we balance the benefit of more trees with the risk of wildfire?
This is long-term research and initial soil carbon sampling and reportable carbon data results are expected in the 2029-2030 timeframe.
Customers can support the development of carbon forestry technologies, improve McKenzie Watershed habitat, and develop local jobs and research training, while protecting the watershed. Voluntary revenues augment and expand project capacity, leveraging existing funds from University of Oregon grants and EWEB watershed protection programs.
Links and Relevant Resources:
- EWEB Lead Green Program Options
- EWEB Cleanpower Program Details
- EWEB Greenpower Program Details
- EWEB Greenpower Grant Recipients
- EWEB Carbon Forest Lab Program
- YouTube Video explaining EWEB High Banks Carbon Forest Lab project
- University of Oregon, Soil Plant Atmosphere Lab
- EWEB Solar Electric Program
- EWEB Commercial Solar Electric Program
- EWEB Residential Solar Electric Program
- Resources for Solar Electric Contractors
- Solar Generation Rates
[1] EWEB Electrification Study – Phase 1 Report (Oct 2020)
[2] What are natural climate solutions? | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
