Advocating for a safe future in Lake Oswego

Nov 1, 2024 | Community, Community

November 2024

Why Advocacy?

When we started LOSN in 2013, we got advice from a sister organization: Don’t get involved with policy, it can tear your organization apart! And for many years, we didn’t get involved with much advocacy.

As one of the few environmental groups in Lake Oswego, we take our responsibility seriously. We feel compelled to do as much as we can to promote a safe future, and advocacy can make a big difference.

Public policy can accomplish some things that individual actions cannot.

  • It can support individual action by removing barriers to positive actions. For example, think about the public policy that allows people to sell excess solar to the grid.
  • It can accomplish environmental goals faster. Think about the Clean Air Act, which dramatically reduced pollution by requiring filters in cars and factory smoke stacks.

What is LOSN Advocacy?

At LOSN, we have an advocacy team whose purpose is to review, initiate and promote new policies that build sustainability in Lake Oswego. Here are some of our activities:

  • We review and support what others are doing at the state level. What are the environmental groups or local organizations supporting? We can add our voice.
  • We initiate and promote ideas for Lake Oswego. LOSN has introduced a number of new concepts to Lake Oswego. For example, LOSN was the original supporter of the city’s climate action plan. We had heard of other cities that were adopting these plans and we thought LOSN should have one – so we promoted it.
  • We follow a rigorous vetting process within LOSN. A new policy proposal must run quite the gamut before we decide to support it. Each idea is vetted through our advocacy team – sometimes that takes multiple discussions. We often consult and work with other LOSN committees. Before we make our final decision, we get a consensus yes vote from our entire board.
  • We have an advocacy policy to ensure that our internal conversations and community outreach are respectful and productive.
  • We have partners. There is strength in connection, and we work closely with Respond to Racism, Oswego Lake Watershed Council, MCAT (Mobilizing Climate Action Together, a subgroup of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and others.
  • We create campaigns to support our favored policies. We mobilize individuals to support, organize letter writing campaigns and talk to local policy makers.

Here are some of the important issues we have worked on:

  • Protecting the city Sustainability Advisory Board and program against budget cuts (in place)
  • A climate action plan for the city (in place)
  • Electric school buses for the Lake Oswego School District (story below)
  • Affordable housing in Lake Oswego (housing will be ready for occupancy soon)
  • Exploring ways to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers (ongoing)
  • Review of new facilities: the wastewater treatment plan and the recreation center
  • State incentives for heat pumps, energy efficiency and electric vehicles (many of these are in place)
  • State laws regarding waste management (new laws are in place)
  • Improving state climate goals (defeated last year – up again at the state legislature)
  • The state climate protection plan (ongoing)

What are we working on now?

  • Affordable housing policies for Lake Oswego
  • Phase out gas-powered leaf blowers in Lake Oswego
  • Testifying in favor of state issues.

How can you get involved?

  • We are always looking for new committee members
  • We are exploring the idea of providing local advocacy training
Contact Us to Get Involved

Electric school buses are coming!

For five years, LOSN has been advocating for electric school buses in our community. Now four will arrive this coming year thanks to a PGE grant awarded to the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD).

Read more about the electric school buses coming to Lake Oswego.

In the coming years, LOSD may evaluate how and when to transition the entire bus fleet to electric. In the meantime, LOSN will continue to promote electric school buses as a healthy, sustainable choice.

Lake Oswego School District: An Electric School Bus Case Study

We have found that impacting policy and making big changes takes a combination of time, often years, and creative problem solving. Sometimes people in leadership aren’t interested in our ideas, and we need to be persuasive. Sometimes we are engaged with public opposition or confusion.

Electric school buses provide an example of an issue we worked on that took time, engagement and persuasion. In this case, the people in leadership were very open to the idea of electric school buses because they are quieter, cleaner and healthier for students, and better for the environment. All the major work was done by the Lake Oswego School District (LOSD), and the credit belongs to them, but LOSN worked to create interest in the issue, supported the school board’s efforts and did public outreach.

In 2019, LOSN board member Duke Castle, heard that some school districts in the US were starting to use electric school buses. Duke has been promoting electric vehicles for years in Lake Oswego and was excited about the prospect of getting electric school buses in Lake Oswego. He contacted LOSD board member John Wallin, who expressed interest.

At that time, electric buses were 3 to 4 times more expensive than diesel and would require greater electric capacity for charging than was available at the former Lake Grove bus barn location. The district had acquired land in the Lakeview industrial park that would meet their needs for a bus barn. Duke spoke with Tony Vandenberg, LOSD Executive Director of Project Management, who was in charge of developing the new facility.

Duke researched and found that private companies like Highland Electric offered financing for electric school buses. A representative from that company told LOSD that their new location would be a good site for electric school buses.

Some of the neighbors near the proposed new site of the bus barn were concerned about noise and added pollution, so the LO Planning Commission did not approve the new location in 2019. The issue was tabled as the school district searched for a different location. By 2023, the district realized that the location they’d found in the Lakeview industrial park was the only one that suited their needs and went back to the Planning Commission.

After more research and discussion, and weighing the pros and cons, the LOSD board unanimously agreed to move forward. That’s when LOSN’s advocacy team got involved. Recognizing this location for the bus barn provided the only path forward for electric buses, we sent an action alert to our mailing list asking for comments to support electric school buses. Many comments were sent to the Planning Commission. In the end, the Planning Commission and City Council concurred with the school district. Almost five years after this project began, the bus barn is now operating in the new location.

Hear from the Electrification Experts

Urban Forest Summit and healthy yard tips for fall

Oct 1, 2024 | Community, Electrify Your Landscaping / Healthy Yard Care, Natural Resources - Testimonials, Past

October 2024
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6th Annual Urban Forest Summit:

A Healthy Urban Forest – What You Can Do

Saturday, November 2, 9 am – 12:30 pm

Lake Oswego United Methodist Church

1855 South Shore Blvd, Lake Oswego

You are invited to attend the 6th annual Urban Forest Summit. This is an opportunity to expand your arboreal knowledge, discuss the importance of a healthy, interconnected urban ecological system and share opportunities to maintain and support the health of the urban forest.

This year’s agenda will include an update on the City of Lake Oswego Community and Urban Forestry Plan, information on tree care and maintenance, understanding our urban forest from floor to canopy, and best practices for native plant landscaping. We’ll be exploring how we can care for our urban forest, individually and collectively.

The opening speakers will be Jack Halsey, Executive Director of the OLWC, Jessica Numanoglu, Community Development Director for the City of Lake Oswego, and Scott Altenhoff, Manager of the Urban and Community Forestry Program at the Oregon Department of Forestry. They will be followed by the following panelists: Caitlin Pope Daum, Principal Landscape Architect at Studio Wild, Ian Hunter, founder and owner of Phoenix Habitats, and Leah Puhlman, Master Gardener Oregon State University Extension.

The Urban Forest Summit is presented by the Oswego Lake Watershed Council in partnership with the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network.

For more information and to register: oswegowatershed.org
Learn more about and register for the Urban Forest Summit

Leave the Leaves… and other sustainable gardening ideas for fall

Leave the Leaves:

  • If they fall in garden beds let them stay in place.
  • Place leaves from your walkways and hardscape into your garden beds.
  • If they fall on your lawn use an electric lawn mower to chop them up and let them stay in place. By spring, all of the leaves will disintegrate into a leaf duff, which is just another name for natural compost.

Leave the flowers:

  • Birds will come to eat the seeds.
  • Wait until early spring to cut back your perennials to maximize winter food for birds and small mammals.

Leave the berries and other fruit on shrubs and trees.

Leave small branches and twigs – they provide good food for fungi. They will also disintegrate into the leaf duff.

ELECTRIFY YOUR LANDSCAPING AND HEALTHY YARD CARE

It’s Clean, It’s Quiet, It’s Healthy

Candidate Forum
Lake Oswego candidate forum

Do you want to hear about what our Lake Oswego candidates think about accelerating the implementation of the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, banning gas-powered leaf blowers and other sustainability and equity questions? This forum was held on October 7 and was hosted by Respond to Racism and the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network. Here is the YouTube link to the Candidate Forum: https://www.youtube.com/live/sPVqkuKB1jQ

We experienced difficulty in the audio recording and the sound begins at the 18:45 mark.

Lake Oswego Repair Fair Coming November 16

Please join us at our upcoming Lake Oswego Repair Fair on November 16 from 10 am – 1 pm.  For more information on upcoming Clackamas County Repair Fairs.

Ever wonder where your trash goes? Take a tour and find out

Jul 1, 2024 | Community, Education, Past

July 2024

Ever Wonder What Happens to Your Curbside Trash and Recycling? Now you can find out!

Please join the LOSN Materials Management Action Team for a 60-min tour of the material recovery facility operated by our residential hauler, Republic Services in Wilsonville.

Republic Service’s Materials Recovery Facility Tour

Friday Aug 9, 2024 ⋅ 11:30am – 12:30pm (Pacific Time – Los Angeles)

10295 SW Ridder Rd, Wilsonville, OR 97070, USA

There is a maximum of 30 participants who can attend. Please RSVP to Susan Mead at semead90@gmail.com. If you are interested in carpooling, please let Susan know.

Tour details:

  • Be sure to allow enough time to arrive for the tour start at 11:30 AM. Approiximately 30 minutes should be adequate from downtown Lake Oswego.
  • To join the walk-through of the facility, you must wear close-toed shoes. All needed personal protective equipment will be provided by Republic Services.

Sustainability in our schools

May 1, 2024 | Community, Education, Schools

May 2024

Sustainability in Lake Oswego Schools

The Lake Oswego School District (LOSD) has embraced sustainability in many different ways – in its curriculum, in its new facilities, and as one of the four key pillars in its strategic plan. In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing sustainability highlights from the 2023-24 school year.

Sustainability Curriculum

For the second year, Lakeridge and Lake Oswego high schools have offered elective classes on sustainability. Both high schools also have green teams to help promote sustainability within their school communities.

Testimony from LOHS student Brody Trost:

“My name is Brady Trost, and I was in Mrs. Foster’s Sustainability class this year. The Sustainability class is super fun, you go on a lot of field trips and learn a lot about the environment. Earlier in 1st semester, our class went to the PAE building in Portland. The building was an incredibly sustainable building, and they filtered their own water for consumption. Many people in the class said that the water tastes especially good there. Our class also went to Forest Hill Elementary as our final, and we got to read the students a book called We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom. The book talks about water and how Native American people wish to protect their water. Our class was lucky to read this book to two 5th grade classes… Overall, Sustainability is a really fun class, and you can make new friends.”

Pictured above: Lake Oswego High School’s solar flower, greenhouse and garden.

Testimony from LOHS student Lyra Johnson:

“My name is Lyra Johnson, and I’m this year’s Green Team president. Green Team is the LOHS environmental activism club, focused on service, stewardship and environmental education. I joined the club in my freshman year while looking for something to do during the pandemic, and have found that the events, activities and opportunities it offers provide huge relief against climate anxiety and hopelessness. From regular land tending events, where we pull ivy, pick up trash and plant native species, to educational opportunities around the community (such as the annual Tree Summit on November 4, where I met so many inspiring individuals crafting havens of biodiversity in their own backyards), Green Team allows students to contribute in whatever capacity interests them.”

Lakeridge High School opened its greenhouse and agricultural spaces in fall 2023. Thanks to a collaboration between Marketing and Farm to School, students in the class sell vegetable starts and vegetables that they grow in their campus farm beds.

Sustainability curriculum has also expanded to elementary and middle schools. All 5th graders participate in place-based Healthy Waters walking field trips from their individual campuses that are provided by the Oswego Lake Watershed Council. The gardens were refurbished at Lake Grove Elementary while Westridge Elementary designed and built new gardens.

Both middle schools will add a garden/horticulture elective this fall.

Pictured above: Raised beds and outdoor classroom at River Grove Elementary.

Sustainable Facilities

Earth Week Celebration

The LOHS Green Team planned and coordinated a week-long series of events in April. The goal was to bring students together with the common goal of learning, sharing, and doing service. Events included Land Tending, a showing and discussion of “Atomic Hope,” the Lake Oswego Sustainability Resource Fair, and the Asian Cultural Festival. They capped off the week with a picnic to celebrate in the outdoor classroom.

Materials management, what does that mean?

Mar 1, 2024 | Community, Education

March 2024

Materials management – what does that mean?

It is thinking intentionally about what we buy; how we use, manage, and dispose of stuff.

In this newsletter you will learn and obtain insights about:

  • The R’s and practical ways to consume sustainably
  • The recently passed Right to Repair state legislation
  • Common questions regarding recyclable items directed to Amanda Watson, our City’s Sustainability manager
  • The status of the 2021 Oregon Recycling Modernization Act rulemaking.
  • Upcoming events and resources

The Rs

Most of us have heard the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Since that time, there have been creative extensions that include rethinking and refusing. What do these words really mean?   Why are they in a particular order? They are a hierarchy to represent what provides the greatest benefit: benefit to your pocketbook, benefit to the environment.

The ten questions on choosing products for sustainability, help guide thoughtful purchasing decisions.  The first question, Do I really need the product?  can result in thought-provoking alternatives such as sharing or borrowing, inventive solutions as well as more thoughtful and reduced consumption.

Read full story…

Right to repair bill creates opportunities for Lake Oswego residents

Remember when we used to go to the shoe repair shop? Or wait for the repairman to fix our TVs and washing machines? That era ended when the world of cheap goods arrived, and it became more convenient and affordable to toss things out. Repairmen went out of business, and a throwaway mentality took over our society. This even extends to pricey electronic devices. Even though we know about the cost of waste – the dirty oceans, methane escaping from landfills – we often feel forced to buy a new product even when a simple repair would do the trick.

The Oregon legislature just passed a first step solution to e-waste: they thumbed their noses at some of the big tech companies and passed the “Right to Repair” bill.

LOSN proudly sent testimony in support of this bill, which was co-sponsored by Senator Wagner, Representative Nguyen, and others. It is a triple bottom line winner: 1) Helping the environment by reducing e-waste, and cutting the pollution caused by the manufacturing of unneeded replacements, 2) Helping our society by providing more choices for consumers, reducing the digital divide by creating a market for used goods, and leading to new jobs for repairmen, and 3) Helping all of us to become more prosperous as we affordably fix our electronic equipment.

Advocates have been working on this bill since 2019. This year, the bill got bipartisan support, and goes farther than similar bills in other states. It includes:

  • A requirement that consumer electronics manufacturers make replacement parts, diagnostic tools, and repair manuals available to consumers and third-party repair shops.
  • A prohibition on tech companies blocking third-party components that could replace the manufacturers’ parts.
  • A prohibition on sending misleading alerts or warnings about the use of third-party parts to inhibit users.
  • A prohibition on inhibiting devices’ performance if consumers install third-party parts.
  • Penalties of up to $1,000 a day for violators.

This law builds on Oregon’s tradition of environmental leadership. So, as you buy your next phone, think carefully about the color, shape, and features that you like. That phone could or should be yours for a long, long time.

FAQs: Recycling in LO

Amanda Watson manages the city’s sustainability program, and that includes managing responsibly the waste the city and its people generate. To get answers to some of the recycling questions we all face weekly, we sent her a couple of questions, and she provided answers that we can all use.


For citizens who mean well and intend to recycle as much as we can, it can be daunting to remember exactly what is recyclable. And when we look at a plastic object, we may want to recycle it even though the chart on the refrigerator doesn’t mention it.

To find out many people call Amanda.

Read what Amanda says.

Oregon’s 2021 Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act Pushes Responsible Recycling Upstream to the Manufacturers and Expands the List of What You Can Recycle

For too long the manufacturers of plastics have evaded their responsibility for the piles of discarded plastics that plague the world in so many ways. But that era is coming to an end soon.

Back in 2021, Oregon’s legislature passed Senate Bill 582, the Recycling Modernization Act. It created a method to implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for the recyclability of packaging materials sold in Oregon. At that time, Oregon was only one of two states to enact a law of this kind, with Maine having been the first.

The Act directed the DEQ to establish a Recycling System Advisory Council, comprised of representatives from local governments, community-based organizations representing historically underserved groups, small businesses, the recycling industry, processors or material end users, and producers of the products specified in the act. The Council has been hard at work writing the rules that will make this Act a reality.

Read full story…

Resources

Clackamas County sustainability page: https://www.clackamas.us/sustainability

Clackamas county repair fair page: https://www.clackamas.us/recycling/repairfair

Just Porch It distributes useable clothing shoes, bedding, etc., to community groups. Textiles that aren’t usable are sent to be made into rags: https://justporchit.com/

Medication Take Back: https://medtakebackoregon.org/

Community Warehouse, Free Geek, ReStore, Rebuilding Center, SCRAP

New Season for plastic or James’ Events

Metro: https://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/garbage-and-recycling

Metro Find a Recycler: https://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/garbage-and-recycling/find-a-recycler

Repair Finder (includes more than Portland):https://www.portlandrepairfinder.com/

Ridwell Subscription: Picking up hard-to-recycle items:  https://www.ridwell.com/

Upcoming Events

Repair Fairs in Clackamas County
  • Lake Oswego April 6, 2024, Adult Community Center, 505 G Ave, Lake Oswego. 10 am to 1pm.
  • Wilsonville April 27, 2024, Wilsonville Library, 8200 SW Wilsonville Rd., Wilsonville. 10 am to 1 pm.
  • Happy Valley May 4, 2024, Happy Valley Library, 13793 SE Sieben Park Way, Happy Valley. 10am to 1pm.
  • Molalla- June 8, 2024, Molalla Library, 201 E 5th St., Molalla. 11am to 2 pm.
  • Canby- July 20, 2024, Canby Library, 220 NE 2nd Ave, Canby. 10 am to 1 pm.
  • Estacada- August 10, 2024, Estacada Library, 825 NW Wade St., Estacada. 11 am to 2 pm.
  • Milwaukie at the Milwaukie Sustainability Fair. September 7, 2024. 10723 SE Main St., Milwaukie. 10 am to 2 pm.  The Sustainability Fair is 10 am to 3 pm.
  • This will be outside in the parking lot where the farmer’s market is located.
  • Oregon City- October 5, 2024 -Oregon City Library, 606 John Adams St., Oregon City. 10 am to 1 pm.
  • Sandy Library November 2, 2024, Sandy Library, 38980 Proctor Blvd., Sandy. 10 am to 1 pm.
  • 4/20 Lake OSwego Resource Sustainability Fair
  • 4/20 Planet Con PCC Rock Creek Campus. Sustainability Fair. Collection, resource table, free swap table, repair fair: https://www.planetcon.org/

Many thanks to Amanda Watson, Jim Newcomer, Dorothy Atwood, Colleen Johnston and Susan Mead, Master Recycler, for her contributions to this newsletter.

The electrification movement is spreading across Oregon

Feb 1, 2024 | Community, Electrify LO Journey

February 2024
Our January electrification newsletter was ready to go as thousands of people in Lake Oswego were without power, encased in ice, enduring freezing temperatures, and unsure of when the darkness would end. We concluded that sending the newsletter on its scheduled January date would have been insensitive, obtuse, infuriating—and the poor timing would not help our message.

But hear us out. As our climate continues to change, we will see more weather extremes, more storms and fires, and more planned and unplanned outages.The solution is to switch to clean, renewable energy that produces electricity, not to double down on fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and gasoline.Therefore, our new commitment to you is to offer newsletters with more resilience workarounds that can help us all through these now-predictable periods when we don’t have electricity.

Look for our upcoming newsletter on how to get through your next power outage. But in the meantime, here is a link to an editorial in the Lake Oswego Review from our Electrify LO team member, Duke Castle, on the holy grail to bridge us during these outages—a battery in your garage that can power your home for a couple of days—it also serves to move you around town in style!

And now we present to you January’s newsletter repackaged for February.

The Electrification Movement is Spreading Across Oregon

We kicked-off Electrify LO just two years ago and we are now joined by Electrifys in Portland, Ashland, Bend, and Corvallis and interested groups in 10 other cities with multiple grassroots collective action projects planned among us. Electrify Oregon was formally established in June 2023 and its website will be launched next month. If you are interested in joining us in our efforts to address the climate crisis, email lganzini@losn.org. Your help is needed and appreciated.

Lake Oswego City Survey Results—Lake Oswego Residents Say the City Should Do More to Address Climate Change.

The City of Lake Oswego released the results of the 2023 City of Lake Oswego Resident Survey returned from 401 randomly selected Lake Oswego residents. This survey is used to determine resident priorities and areas of concern and to get feedback on key policy issues.

Among 13 general areas that the city should focus on, respondents rated “Effectiveness of efforts to respond to climate change” as third in importance (after sustainability and public safety). In a “combined importance/satisfaction index,” respondents rated “Effectiveness of efforts to respond to climate change” as the single most important area in which it should prioritize investments in services.

The overall take away? Many of you and your neighbors agree that addressing the climate crisis must be a priority for our city government. Let the mayor and city council know you support their efforts to fulfill the city’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan at CouncilDistribution@lakeoswego.city.

2022 and 2023 Were Good Years for Electrification—But Not Great

The grid is getting cleaner.  Over 80% of new capacity added to the grid now comes from renewable sources. Oregon law dictates that electricity must be 80% clean in Oregon by 2030 and 100% clean by 2040.  If you sign up for community solar, 80-90% of your electricity will be clean and you will receive a 5% discount on your PGE bill (higher discounts for low income subscribers).  If you sign up for green power, your home electricity will approach 100% clean energy.

Electric machines are surging in sales. In the US in 2023, over 1 million battery-electric vehicles were sold by November, making up 9 percent of U.S. auto sales. Experts say we are now past “the tipping point.” Last year, the sales of heat pump furnaces leapt past fossil gas furnaces for the first time—4.3 millions units compared to 3.9 million. The sales of electric heat pump water heaters increased in proportion to 55% from 51% between 2021 and 2023 compared to fossil gas units.

Americans prefer electric. A survey last year revealed that Americans are showing a strong interest in electric homes with 31% expressing a preference for an all-electric home and 29% for a mostly electric home.

Everything is trending in the right direction.

But trending is not enough. Rewiring America calculates that to meet our 2030 climate goals we need twice as many heat pumps for space heating and water heating and four times as many electric vehicles between 2024 and 2026 as the “business as usual” case. That means we all need to get moving!

What more can you do? We know that many of our newsletter readers are on their electrification journey. Now it is critical to show your friends, family and neighbors your electrification results so that they can see it as a great next step for themselves. In 2024 we hope to roll out several ways to make it easier for you to influence others to electrify. We plan on an Electrify LO yard sign campaign in concert with Portland, Ashland, and Bend. We also want to share with you electrified homes in Lake Oswego, both new and retrofitted, through our Electric House Party program.

Five Steps to Take Now to Begin Your 2024 Electrification Journey

You want to begin switching over to an all-electric, more sustainable, and ultimately less expensive way of life, but you aren’t sure where to begin? One good first step would be to sign up for Canary Media’s Electrified Life/Demystifying Home Electrification. For example, this month Alison Takemura outlines how to start 2024 with some low stakes steps to begin your electrification journey.

1. Clarify in your own mind why you are motivated to go electric.

The ride can be bumpy, initially expensive, and long, so keeping the benefits in mind can help you stay on course—not only the climate, but comfort, lower energy bills, a healthy and safe home, and personal energy independence. Remember there are easy, inexpensive first steps that can help you feel successful such as purchasing a single burner induction hotplate, subscribing to community solar, purchasing electric landscaping equipment, or buying an outdoor electric grill.

2. Look up incentives.

Electrify Now has all the Oregon incentives listed on one page.You can layer these incentives all in one project.

  • Federal incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).Tax credits are available now, and larger rebates for low- and middle-income households will become available as early as mid-2024. Here is a summmary of tax credits and a calculator from Rewiring America with both federal tax credits and potential future rebates.
  • Energy Trust of Oregon incentives
  • Contractor incentives. Use Electrify Now to find recommended contractors. Read through the recommendations for coupons and discounts. Contractors and discounts are also available through Electrifypdx.
  • Finance your home electrification and energy efficiency upgrades with a Portland General Electric on-bill financing loan for up to $30,000 through Craft3—even if your credit is not perfect. Pay for major electrification projects over 15 years.

3. Schedule a home energy audit and consultation.

A home energy audit examines your present situation. It will give you an idea of how efficient your home is and where you might be able to improve its efficiency. Weatherization, insulation, and sealing might allow you to save money because you would need a smaller heat pump or fewer solar panels. A blower door test will help find air leaks within your building envelope. The IRA includes a $150 tax credit for a home energy audit from a qualified professional.

A home energy consultation, on the other hand, gives you a breakdown of costs, cash incentives, and tax credits for home energy upgrades such as adding insulation, upgrading HVAC, or replacing windows. One contractor, Greensavers, offers free energy consultations in addition to audits, electrification, energy efficient windows, insulation, and HVAC services. Schedule a consultation at greensavers.com/community and use the code, LISAADATTO. If you complete a project of $2,500 or more, Greensavers will donate $200 to LOSN. Other companies that offer energy consultations and electrification plans are available at Electrify Now.

4. Make an electrification plan.

Your energy plan can serve as the roadmap to electrify your home over time and make the best use of the incentives. With a plan you are prepared to act flexibly—either preemptively when your appliances are just old and inefficient, or when you need to act quickly because things stop working. If you want to take your first step today, Canopy is a free online platform that can help you figure out which electrification project to tackle first based on information you submit. They provide a step-by-step checklist for making upgrades and maximizing available incentives. They also provide LOSN with anonymized information about how Lake Oswego residents are progressing with their electrification projects, and we report that information back to you in our newsletter. Sign up to start here.

5. Get support.

Canopy also offers advisor services to answer detailed questions and help you make a prioritized plan with follow-up phone support and email encouragement.

There Are Some Major Changes Coming to the Electric Vehicle  World in 2024.

The big changes in EV tax credits

The biggest change in the EV world this year is that many popular models will temporarily lose the full $7500 federal tax credit due to tightening battery requirements in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Passed in 2022 the IRA requires a greater percentage of EV battery materials not be sourced from China and other countries the Treasury Department has labeled a “foreign entry of concern.” Effected vehicles include all of the least expensive Teslas, the Ford Mach-E, Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Blazer EV. The Chevy Bolt and Ford F-150 Lightning still qualify.

The good news is that starting in 2024 dealers can absorb the full tax credit for those vehicles that do qualify and pass the savings on at the time of purchase. To learn more about which vehicles will qualify and how to claim your credit, check out the article on 2024 EV Tax Credits at PlugIn America

Consider leasing

One option to overcome this limitation in tax credits is to consider leasing. Almost all EVs purchased for business purposes are eligible for the full $7500 tax credit, without any of the other IRA restrictions, and, through a quirk in the tax law, the leasing company receives this tax credit and can pass it along to the person leasing the vehicle. If you have never leased, there are other benefits for considering leasing of EVs right now.  As pointed out by Andrew Moseman in Heatmap, the EV revolution is young and there are many new EVS coming out. At this point, new developments are coming rapidly, and we don’t know what improvements are coming in EVs or which ones will age well. It might make sense to lease a few years until you can see what works and buy with confidence.

Tesla chargers will become available to all

The other big EV news for 2024 is that virtually all EV manufacturers have signed agreements with Tesla to allow their vehicles to access the Tesla fast charging Supercharger network. This significantly reduces “range anxiety” by making available tens of thousands of what is considered the most reliable and extensive DC fast EV charging network to all of those EV owners. For more on how each manufacturer is making this transition check out this article from Car and Driver.

Electrify Your Landscaping

LOSN Board member Kathleen Wiens attended the Oregon Gas to Electric Landscaping symposium at the Nike Campus in November 2023.  It was sponsored by American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA), the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association (OCLA).

This well-attended workshop was an informative day of presentations, dialogue and commercial landscaping equipment demos. A leaf blowing contest took place at this workshop and an electric leaf blower came in first place against a gas blower. The landscapers using electric equipment are happy to be using electric, which are quieter and have no fumes. It’s great to see so many landscapers transitioning to electric landscaping equipment.

American Green Zone Alliance is a national leader in low-impact low-noise landscape solutions. You can view the AGZA summary video of this workshop.

Check out the LOSN Electric Landscaping page. We also have an Electrify Your Landscaping committee doing work in our community.

By the Numbers
The 2023 Lake Oswego Home & Vehicle Fair

Our fair was a big success, thanks to those who came out to visit, our volunteers, our sponsors and the LO United Methodist Church.

More than 500 people attended our 6th annual event. As part of National Drive Electric Week, 12 dealers brought 18 EVs for test drives and 35 EV owners brought vehicles. We hosted 7 presentations on electrification and 30-60 people attended each and 20 event exhibitors shared information. We received 2 stories in the The Lake Oswego Review including this front page coverage. Our event was an overall success thanks to 24 volunteers, including support from the LO United Methodist Church.

We’ll soon share details soon about our 2024 Home & Vehicle Electrification Fair.