Transparency and accountability are guiding principles of the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), a first-of-its-kind program in the country. Nothing is perfect right out of the gate, so we have always welcomed feedback and criticism to fulfill our critical mission: to build climate resilience while improving outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, and low-income Portlanders.
But criticism without context is unproductive, divisive, and harmful, and does a disservice to the great work that is being done by the PCEF program, its staff, and its volunteer committee.
First, know that accountability is central to our process. We hold our grantees accountable for expenditures, outcomes, and more through mandatory quarterly reports. All grantees must report on performance measures that are defined in their contracts. Different project types are evaluated with corresponding criteria which can include carbon reductions, kilowatt (kW) hours reduced and/or produced, kWs installed, fuel(s) displaced, trees planted, acres converted, pounds of food grown, households served, dollars saved, people trained, businesses supported, hours worked, and a variety of other metrics that quantify a project’s impact both on climate change and the betterment of historically underserved communities.
We are also in the process of engaging with stakeholders to review our performance measures. Through this process, we’re receiving invaluable feedback that will help us refine those performance measures and meet our goal of completing our analysis this summer. Using this data, we will create a user-friendly digital dashboard where Portlanders can see the real impact of PCEF’s work. This work was underway long before our recent audit report.
Second, we maintain fidelity to the PCEF ballot language by ensuring all grants align with one of our defined funding areas. Our grantmaking evaluates and compares proposals on 10 to 28 criteria that focus on projected carbon reductions, utility cost reductions, health benefits to low-income and people-of-color households, and the use of a diverse workforce, to name just a few. Proposals that make a strong case for meeting these criteria across those categories are more likely to get funded and become grantees.
Our strategic investments advance energy efficiency, renewable energy, green infrastructure, regenerative agriculture, workforce and contractor development, and so much more. Investments in these critically important areas are not only mandated in our code — they also reflect our values and priorities. To date, PCEF has funded:
- Dozens of deep retrofits on homes owned by Black, Indigenous, and people-of-color households.
- Energy efficiency and green infrastructure improvements across single-family and multifamily affordable housing.
- Ductless heat pumps in low-income homes that provide essential cooling during heat emergencies and warmth during winter months.
- Tree plantings across the City’s natural areas that provide workforce development training for BIPOC youth and combat detrimental effects of heat islands.
See a full list of projects funded in the inaugural round (2021).
As Portlanders and Oregonians, we are proud of our early leadership in climate action, energy efficiency, and sustainability (the residential energy tax credit started in 1977). But for more than 45 years, the vast majority of the benefits from those investments — both economic and environmental — have gone to well-off and disproportionately white households. PCEF was designed to address climate change in a way that rights these historical wrongs and creates a better, more equitable climate future for all.
Climate change initiatives often look for comparative programs, but we don’t have that. As a consistent leader in this area, we’ve gotten used to forging the path for others to follow. While we have learned a great deal from programs with similarities to ours, there are no roadmaps or standard benchmarks, no goal posts for comparison next door in Washington or California — or anywhere else in the nation or world. There is no other program like it, so we’re working to develop a blueprint for other communities and — notably — a Green New Deal.
We appreciate the good work of our Auditor to highlight work that will improve PCEF. We agree with the recommendations and have been actively working on many of the issues raised. We do not agree with the way the findings and the program have been characterized in the media – and ask Portlanders to learn all sides of our story.
We encourage you to read the audit and our response, and we invite you to join us as we continue to stand up the PCEF program as the pride of Portland.