The Making Energy Work Coalition
We believe everyone deserves affordable, clean energy produced locally.
THE MAKING ENERGY WORK COALITION
The MEW Coalition includes municipalities, nonprofits, independent renewable energy suppliers, Tribes, farmers, ranchers, and state agencies across the Pacific Northwest who are:
Planning and building community-based clean energy projects.
Learning from each other via quarterly workshops, field tours, and information-sharing sessions.
Pooling resources to pilot innovative demonstration projects.
Educating policymakers and funders about clean energy projects and programs.
Spearheading policy initiatives to bring the economic and resilience benefits of clean energy to rural Oregon.
Rural and Tribal communities play a crucial role in the transition to locally produced, clean energy. But in the current rapid transition to a clean energy economy, rural interests are often left out of the conversation.
At Sustainable Northwest, we and our partners help amplify these voices through the Making Energy Work (MEW) Coalition.
Interested in joining a growing coalition of clean energy leaders? Sign up for monthly newsletters, engaging workshops, webinars, and more!
Since 2022, SNW and our partners have convened a dedicated policy committee to advocate for public policies that support community-led clean energy projects.
THE MAKING ENERGY WORK POLICY COMMITTEE
The Making Energy Work Policy Committee includes a diverse group of community energy advocates across the state. We support an equitable transition to a clean energy economy so that rural and indigenous communities can realize greater economic stability, energy independence, and community resilience. We support and coordinate project development, provide technical assistance for resilience planning, and offer financial modeling and fundraising expertise.
We also work on the ground to develop local energy projects to deliver project benefits to our partner communities. Sustainable Northwest focuses on uplifting rural, Tribal, and natural resource-based community voices to ensure these investments are deployed where needed.
Help us remove regulatory energy policies that create barriers for rural Oregon and ease tensions between rural stakeholders and urban centers as climate and economic hardships continue to grow.
A Special Thank You To The 2025-2027 Making Energy Work Policy Committee:
Joshua Basofin, Climate Solutions (Multnomah County, OR)
Neil Baunsgard, The Environmental Center (Deschutes County, OR) sharing seat with Lindsey Hardy
Amy Berg Pickett, Sunstone Energy (Deschutes County, OR)
Gavin Collier, Wallowa Resources (Wallowa County, OR) sharing seat with Joe Basile
Alyssa Forest, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association (Multnomah County) sharing seat with Angela Crowley-Koch
Meagan Hartman, Wisewood Energy (Benton County, OR)
Ormand Hildebrand, PaTu Wind (Wasco County, OR)
Dylan Kruse, Sustainable Northwest (Clackamas County, OR)
Reuben Martinez, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (Whatcom County, WA)
Jennifer Peterson Rouda, 7Skyline / Navajo Power (Clatsop County, OR)
Carra Sahler, Lewis & Clark Green Energy Institute (Multnomah County, OR)
John Seng, Spark NW (King County, WA)
Shannon Souza, Oregon Coast Energy Alliance Network (OCEAN) / Sol Coast Consulting & Design (Coos County, OR)
James Williams, Community Renewable Energy Association (Lake County, OR) sharing seat with Mike McArthur (Sherman County, OR)
CURRENT POLICY PRIORITIES
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Urban, suburban and rural stakeholders across the state have identified energy resilience and microgrid development as a top priority to respond to and recover from grid disruptions in their communities. The main drivers are the increased occurrence and severity of natural disasters like wildfires, extreme weather, and earthquakes; unprecedented load growth on the state’s grid from energy intensive users; and a desire to protect against rising energy costs through local energy production and energy storage.
Unfortunately, Oregon’s regulatory landscape is stifling the ability of communities to pursue small scale renewable energy projects that would directly enhance preparedness, grid reliability, economic development, affordability, and public safety.
The MEW PC has drafted and introduced the following legislation to address these challenges:
House Bill 2064: Enabling Islanding Capabilities for Front-of-Meter Community Microgrids provides guidance to put more decision-making power into the hands of local, frontline community emergency management teams.
House Bill 2065: Third-Party Participation in Community Energy Planning and Development addresses bottlenecks in the energy planning process to get projects built and meet clean energy goals.
House Bill 2066: Establishing Clarity around Legality, Valuation, and Financing of Microgrids requires PUC to establish legal clarity and compensatory mechanisms to support community-scale microgrid development and resiliency strategies.
POLICY SUCCESSES
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The MEW Policy Committee identified three key policy areas to develop and support for the 2023 legislative session - community energy resilience, development of a state hydrogen economy, and modernization of PURPA Qualifying Facility (“QF”) contracts as our priority initiatives. This work led to the development of three bills introduced in the Oregon legislature this year, in partnership with key community partners and congressional sponsors, to achieve the following:
Providing funding to help all 36 Oregon counties develop an energy resilience strategy
Clearly defining renewable hydrogen in order to help Oregon develop a renewable hydrogen economy
Modernization of PURPA QF contracts for the benefit of community-scale solar energy projects
We are thrilled to announce that the legislature passed bills achieving the first two outcomes above – for community energy resilience and a renewable hydrogen economy – into law
The community energy resilience legislation provides first-of-its-kind funding for all 36 Oregon counties to develop an energy resilience plan. This can include development of microgrids and other improvements to capture federal funds, decrease costs, and improve reliability, which is particularly important to rural communities that face increasing disruptions to the grid from natural disasters such as wildfire. The work to define renewable hydrogen is important to ensure our transition to a clean energy economy is truly clean, utilizing clean power sources for renewable hydrogen. These important milestones could not have been achieved without the unwavering dedication and support of our MEW Policy Committee members, advisors, community partners and funding partners.
And while the efforts to modernize PURPA QF contracts for the benefit of community-scale solar energy projects did not ultimately pass this session, we remain committed to pursuing this important policy initiative with our committee members and partners in the next legislative session and beyond.
We offer our deepest gratitude and appreciation to the partners who’ve made this effort possible, including the Stolte Family Foundation and Climate Solutions. Through your continued support and the dedication of our members and partners, today’s accomplishments are only the beginning of what we will achieve.
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One of the most significant environmental takeaways from this session was the passage of HB 2021, which will require the state's major utility suppliers to provide 100% clean electricity to customers by 2040 and prohibits new or expanded natural gas-fired power plants in the state. The new law makes Oregon the eighth state to commit to 100% clean electricity, with the most ambitious timeline in the country. Beyond the mandate, HB 2021 also includes a $50 million incentive program to promote energy resilience and small-scale clean energy projects that will help spread the benefits of this transition to rural communities across the state.
In a separate package, The new Rooftop Solar Incentive Fund provides $10 million, which will extend the benefits of solar and storage to residential customers, low and moderate-income customers, and low-income service providers across Oregon.
