It was during a regular check in with Courtney Keating that Silvia Tanner, the Senior Energy Policy and Legal Analyst in the Multnomah County Office of Sustainability, first learned about the diminishing funds to serve low-income Multnomah County residents who need help paying their energy bills. The Energy Assistance Program that Keating oversees as a Senior Program Specialist relies on state and federal funds to help income-qualified households keep the lights and heat on.
“This program is a lifeline for our clients,” said Keating. “We know that households who fall behind on their energy bills are more likely to be evicted and forced to make tough choices about which bills to pay.”
In recent years, the energy utility rates that Multnomah County residents pay have gone up by nearly 50%. However, since 2021 the amount of funding allocated for energy assistance has remained fixed, and the temporary energy assistance funding to support folks impacted by COVID-19 has expired. That was the crux of the problem that Keating flagged for Tanner: the need for energy assistance was increasing while the amount of funding to assist households had, if anything, decreased.
“My first reaction was that someone should do something to address the problem,” said Tanner. “Then, talking to allies, I realized that we could do something about it.”
In coordination with Keating and Diana Hall, Senior System & Policy Analyst with DCHS’ Youth and Family Services Division, Tanner raised the issue to the Citizen Utility Board (CUB) of Oregon – an advocacy group for residential utility customers, Verde – an environmental justice advocate, and other groups. Tanner consistently partners with these groups to support regulation and legislation aligned with the adopted policy directions of the Board of County Commissioners, such as the "100% Renewable Energy by 2050" resolution (Resolution # 2017-046). That policy embraces a vision of a Multnomah County powered by 100% clean energy, but also includes the goal of ensuring a just transition that prevents harm and accrues benefits to low-income and environmental justice communities.
Those longstanding relationships paid off. The Oregon Legislature was in session, and CUB knew of a legislator who would introduce legislation to increase funding for energy assistance through the Oregon Energy Assistance Program. Tanner received a green light from the County Chair and the Government Relations Office to take this approach, and got additional support from the State and Regional Affairs Coordinator Tom Powers.
“The idea of increasing funding for the Oregon Energy Assistance Program was consistent with Board-adopted legislative priorities,” said Powers. “Those priorities included increasing funding for critical safety-net services, and energy assistance is certainly one of those services.”
Since the legislative session was already underway, Tanner, Hall, and Powers had to work fast. Tanner, in close coordination with CUB, the NW Energy Coalition (NWEC), the Community Action Partnership of Oregon (CAPO), and State Rep. Tom Andersen from House District 19, had House Bill 3792 to work with. Tanner collaborated with CUB and NWEC on the initial legislative concept and accompanying policy documents that became the official bill language. HB 3792 has two main components:
- Increases the Oregon Energy Assistance Program funds collected through a fixed charge on utility bills from $20 to $40 million dollars per year, allowing the PUC to adjust the fees to keep pace with rate increases.
- Increases the cap on large customer contributions to this fund from $500 to $1000 per month.
Then came the hard part.
The bill had to be heard first in the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection. Tanner, with help from Powers, prepared written testimony and traveled to Salem to testify in person. Advocacy groups worked to invite testimony from individuals impacted by high energy rates to voice their support for the bill, while Powers worked behind the scenes to raise awareness about the legislation. Committee members, having heard the support and recognizing the needs of their constituents, voted the bill out of committee and referred the bill on to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
The bill then sat in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means waiting to be assigned to a subcommittee. Powers assured Tanner this was a normal part of the process, but as the days in the session ticked closer to the mandated session deadline, Tanner got nervous. “I was worried we would run out of time.”
Powers recommended that Tanner and Hall draft a letter to the Multnomah County delegation pushing the bill for committee assignments and floor votes. Other advocates weighed in too, with NWEC, CUB, and CAPO dedicating significant resources to keeping HB 3792 moving through the legislative process.
Finally, in the last week of the 2025 legislative session, all the advocacy paid off. With just one day of session to go, both the State House of Representatives and Senate voted on a bipartisan basis to pass the bill. House Bill 3792 now awaits the Governor’s signature.
Once the legislation is signed, the annual amount of funding for the Oregon Energy Assistance program will double — for the County, that’s an estimated $5.4 million per year increase in funding that will be available to help Multnomah County residents meet their most basic energy needs. This legislative victory may prove even more important because of proposed reductions in the Federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
“In the dead of winter, when a family is struggling to pay bills and may have their power shutoff, Multnomah County is able to offer life-saving assistance thanks to this funding,” said John Wasiutynski, the director of the County’s Office of Sustainability. “I am so proud of our role in doubling available funds for this program. This bill would not exist without team MultCo.”
“This is the best of Multnomah County,” added Lori Stegmann, the Director of the Youth and Family Services Division within the Department of County Human Services, who oversees the Energy Services Team. “Our incredible MultCo staff show up every day to help prevent people from slipping though the cracks, while at the same time they are always looking for systemic solutions that get upstream of the issues in the first place. I am so proud of Diana Hall, Senior Program Specialist on our Operations Team, Courtney Keating, and our entire Energy Assistance Team. Thank you to Sustainability and Government Relations for your collaboration and support to get this important legislation across the finish line.”
Tanner could not be happier with the outcome.
“We faced long odds. In fact, a bill with a much smaller Oregon Energy Assistance Program increase died in 2023. It took a lot of people and some luck to get this bill through the process,” she said. “Energy justice won’t happen on its own. We need to show up, work in coalition, and bring people with lived experience into the process and decision-making spaces, and keep fighting for a fair and equitable energy system. I am so happy that more households will be able to rely on this vital program and avoid disconnections as a result of our work.”
