HomeMy WebLinkAbout190130 WSMINUTES – Eugene City Council January 30, 2019 Page 1
Work Session
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
January 30, 2019
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Jennifer Yeh, Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark. Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor. Greg Evans, Claire Syrett
Mayor Vinis opened the January 30, 2019, Work Session of the Eugene City Council.
1. WORK SESSION: Regulation of Natural Gas Intergovernmental Relations Manager Ethan Nelson gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining proposals to address greenhouse gas issues related to natural gas service. Council Discussion
• Councilor Zelenka – announced that while he had an administrative interest in the regulation of natural gas, he did not have conflict of interest and would participate in the council discussion.
• Councilor Clark – expressed concern that a static, rather than a dynamic, model was used to analyze the impacts of natural gas; the data doesn’t account for increasing electricity rates due to volume increases caused by conversion; said the best information available is needed because the council’s decision will have a significant impact on many people.
• Councilor Yeh – acknowledged that continuing with business as usual is not a viable path forward for meeting the council’s climate goals; it is worth the time and effort to pursue renewable natural gas; noted that EWEB business plan calls out its reliance on Northwest Natural as part of its resilience strategy.
• Councilor Pryor – asked for clarification about the reference to MtCO2e and for information about what percentage of gas emissions is due to leakage compared with combustion.
• Councilor Evans – asked questions about the cost and timeframe for retrofitting infrastructure for switching to renewables and what the average increase in rates might be for Northwest Natural customers; encouraged communication with partners at Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission about collaborating with Northwest Natural.
• Councilor Syrett – inquired about the costs of installing natural gas into new construction projects; supported efforts to move consumers away from fossil fuels while mitigating the impacts on low-income residents.
• Councilor Taylor – asked questions about the pollution caused by natural gas, the potential impacts of prohibiting incentives to use natural gas, and the impacts of reducing the length of the franchise agreement; urged council to be clear to the public that it is not eliminating natural gas service.
• Councilor Semple – expressed concern that the report was not complete and council had inadequate time to review the information; supported moving toward renewables and a hybrid/variable rate; urged council to avoid any financial decisions that have a regressive effect and supported more triple bottom line analysis; said a 10-year franchise period may make sense, given how quickly technology and climate conditions are changing.
• Councilor Zelenka – noted that regulation would be just one small strategy to address a huge issue; encouraged working cooperatively with large-lever stakeholders and supported