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April 8, 2020, Meeting– Item 2 <br />Franchise Agreement as a means to implement the 2016 Climate Recovery Ordinance. Including a carbon reduction element into a utility franchise agreement is a fairly novel concept, adding new issues to the negotiations discussions and requiring more time for due diligence on both sides of the issue. Over the past six months, a City Council Sounding Board was established to inform and guide staff negotiations and several joint negotiation meetings have been held with NWN. Additionally, the City has been able to retain the consulting services of a utility regulatory expert to assist in the negotiation process; this expert joined the team in January 2020. Due to the complexity of negotiations, both sides have requested an additional six-month extension of the existing franchise agreement to continue negotiations, with the goal of finalizing the agreement by late summer/early fall of 2020. A public hearing on the ordinance that will grant this extension is scheduled for March 9, 2020. All the work on the franchise agreement and carbon reduction efforts are being guided by adopted City Council policy, primarily the Climate Recovery Ordinance, and include actions related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon offsets, and addressing potential impacts to low-income community members. <br />Public Hearing Summary At the March 9 public hearing, City Council heard from five people. A representative of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce testified in support of the extension. Four individuals representing 350 Eugene provided testimony requesting carbon reductions within the franchise agreement and provided recommendations to council on policy elements to include within the franchise agreement. <br />PREVIOUS COUNCIL DIRECTION November 14, 2018, Work Session This work session provided the City Council with information regarding the review process for the right of way franchise agreement with Northwest Natural Gas and discuss options for including CAP2.0 in the negotiations. January 30, 2019, Work Session Staff reviewed questions submitted by the Eugene Sustainability Commission to the City Council regarding the regulation of natural gas in Eugene. May 22, 2019, Work Session Council held a work session with Northwest Natural (Northwest Natural presentation) as a follow-up to a previous work session about NWN’s franchise agreement with the City and Climate Action Plan 2.0 discussions. May 29, 2019, Work Session Move to direct the City Manager to schedule a public hearing on a possible one-year extension of the franchise with Northwest Natural Gas. (Motion passed) <br />CC Agenda - Page 4