Editorial: Bend moving forward on climate fee
Published 9:36 am Thursday, December 11, 2025
Bend City Councilors want to take bold action to reduce carbon emissions.
They moved again Wednesday night toward establishing a climate fee to impel new housing toward installing electric appliances instead of gas. In one example discussed, the fee could be as high as $13,587.
It is not a ban on new natural gas use, but the impact could be similar.
The method the city may use to calculate the fee could be based on a calculation of the social cost of carbon. The calculation may include adjustments for the size of the home and rate of energy use of equipment installed, among other factors. Numbers developed by the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency can then be used to estimate the social cost of carbon. And then voila: the fee.
It is similar to what is being done in the city of Ashland.
There are still decisions to be made. How high should the fee be? What exemptions might be available? How would any revenue raised be used? It could raise a few million dollars, according to an estimate provided to councilors. What nonfinancial incentives — such as allowances for increased density of development might the city use — as well?
Councilors will be the ones making the final decisions on any of these parameters. That may be sometime next year. The plan is to have a committee gather public input and make recommendations to councilors on several of the issues, though not the level of the fee. The Bend City Council itself will handle that.
There are concerns about what any fee will mean to affordability and also about the future availability of sufficient electricity in Oregon. As we have written, there is concern that there are gaps in needed, electrical power for the state. An extreme cold snap coupled with low hydropower output could lead to rolling blackouts as soon as next year.
Tell councilors what you think about this climate fee. You can find more information here: tinyurl.com/Bendclimatefee. We doubt you could persuade them that there should be no fee. You might be able to make suggestions they would listen to about exemptions, the level of the fee and how the revenue raised should be used.