Portland City Council on Wednesday voted to unanimously amend the fund’s Climate Investment Plan to increase its five-year spending budget to more than $1.5 billion – up from $750 million when it was first approved.
PDX Community Solar is a more than 2,200 panel project, located in Northeast Portland, aimed at helping lower helping energy bills for low-income qualified Cully neighborhood residents. Once completed the solar project could power up to 150 homes. Photo taken on August 22, 2024.
Monica Samayoa / OPB
The Portland Clean Energy Fund is a first-of-its-kind climate, social- and racial-justice program. It imposes a 1% tax on large retail businesses in Portland. The tax is used to fund a range of climate-related projects, including energy efficient retrofits, renewable energy development and job training in the construction and energy fields.
The fund has far exceeded expectations and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars more than previously forecast. So much so, the fund has repeatedly undergone extensive budget changes, and the city economist predicts the fund could generate an additional $400 million by the end of the current five-year spending period.
Those additional tax collections spurred several changes, approved Wednesday. Selected city bureaus’ budgets will be boosted to receive more than $623 million from the fund over the next five years. The council also increased spending for the program’s Community Response Grants, as well as an additional $300 million for a new competitive grant.
The changes will also align the Portland Clean Energy Fund spending plan with the city’s fiscal year through June 30, 2029.
Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who previously oversaw the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability where the fund is housed, thanked the PCEF team as well as program manager Sam Baraso for leading the changes.
“It was a large undertaking but really important and transformative,” she said. “Very proud of this work we accomplished together over the last several years.”
The original Climate Investment Plan was introduced by Rubio in September 2023. It underwent a yearlong process, where staff created the plan with input from community members. Those changes were followed by another Rubio-led initiative of a $540 million city bureau five year plan that has now been boosted to $623 million.
Portland city councilors are expected to accept nominations for programs to support through the $300 million Collaborating for Climate Action grant on Dec. 18.
