City of Bend Adopts Climate Pollution Fee

The Bend City Council adopted an ordinance creating a Climate Pollution Fee at its June 3, 2026, meeting. The ordinance establishes a fee on natural gas appliances in some new residential construction in Bend.

The fee only applies to new construction to single family homes, duplexes, townhomes and accessory dwelling units. It does not apply to manufactured homes or to triplexes or other homes with four or more housing units. It does not apply to existing buildings, renovations or replacements, or any commercial buildings. The fee will go into effect on April 1, 2027.

The Climate Pollution Fee is based on a calculation that quantifies the value of climate change damages that natural gas appliances are responsible for and adjusts based on home size and the type of appliance. New construction that installs gas appliances will be required to pay a fee for each appliance they install. The fee is correlated to the relative energy use of the appliance.

“The Climate Pollution Fee is an important policy that helps to achieve the intent of the City’s 2016 climate action resolution, which is to reduce fossil fuel consumption in Bend,” said Bend City Councilor Mike Riley. “With buildings being one of our largest emission sources, this fee is an effective policy mechanism targeted at one of the driving forces of our community’s fossil fuel use.”

“The implementation of this fee is a critical tool to help our City meet its climate goals and protect our community for future generations,” said Bend City Councilor Steve Platt. “We are creating strong incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and invest in cleaner energy sources leading to improved air quality, strengthening our resiliency and ensuring we are doing our part to address the global climate challenge.”

The City Council has been working for several years to encourage electrification of buildings in Bend as a key part of achieving the City’s climate action goals and implementing the Community Climate Action Plan. Buildings contribute 50% of greenhouse gas emissions in Bend. When paired with a clean electricity supply, electrifying buildings is one of the most viable ways to reduce emissions in Bend.

The Climate Pollution fee has been developed over the course of the last couple years. Beginning in spring of 2024, the City Council began considering a variety of policy options to encourage electrification and a Climate Pollution Fee. In August, October, and December 2025, and February and April 2026 the City Council held work sessions to discuss the fee and give direction to staff. The Climate Pollution Fee will be adopted after the second reading and vote on June 17, 2026.

The final fee charged will be determined in early 2027 and will reflect the actual fuel mix of the energy sources that generate our electricity, based on updated utility data. As Councilor Riley said at last night’s hearing, “If a particular gas appliance is less carbon intensive than the comparable electric option, the fee will be $0 for that appliance. This approach to calculating the fee reflects valid community concerns about what may be a slowing timeline for transitioning our electric grid to 100% renewable energy. We heard this concern, and the fee reflects it.”

Visit the Electrification Policy webpage for more information on the Climate Pollution Fee.