Funded by a surcharge on investor-owned utility customer bills, the Portland-based Oregon Energy Trust added natural gas and solar programs to ones for which it will provide incentives and energy efficiency programs to customers of the state’s major private sector utilities — Pacific Power, Portland General Electric and Northwest Natural Gas. The expanded programs for the 18-month-old nonprofit organization started earlier in July.

One of the offshoots of the Energy Trust’s expanded efforts is the projection that there will be a 50% increase in the number of customers installing solar energy systems in the state. The Trust provides up to $7,000 for homes and up to $20,000 for businesses for approved systems, which are supposed to save a least 15% or more on monthly power bills.

Cash incentives are available for insulation, thermal windows and sealing of ducts in homes with gas or electric heat. Incentives for gas customers have been increased from previous offerings. A new law providing for net metering also incents customers with electric systems sell excess power to the grid and receive billing credits for the power.

An average homeowner, according to state calculations, can receive up to $750 in incentives, and another $1,500 of state tax credit for installing an approved solar system.

Established as part of Oregon’s 1999 electric industry restructuring law, the Energy Trust gets 3% of the private-sector utility revenues to use in “public purpose” programs. As of last May when one-year of funding concluded, the Trust had funded energy efficiency/renewable programs with 12,000 homes and 1,500 businesses.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.