ORS 469A.425 Community advisory group; membership; biennial report

An electric company that files a clean energy plan under ORS 469A.415 shall convene a Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group. The members of the electric company’s Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group will be determined by the electric company with input from stakeholders that represent the interests of customers or affected entities within the electric company’s service territory. Members must include representatives of environmental justice communities and low-income ratepayers and may include representatives from other affected entities within the electric company’s service territory.

The electric company shall develop, in consultation with the Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group, a biennial report that assesses the community benefits and impacts of the electric company and shall file the biennial report with the Public Utility Commission. The biennial report must include a description of the following:

Energy burden and disconnections for residential customers and disconnections for small commercial customers;

Opportunities to increase contracting with businesses owned by women, veterans or Black, Indigenous, or People of Color;

Actions within environmental justice communities within the electric company’s service territory intended to improve resilience during adverse conditions or facilitate investments in the distribution system, including investments in facilities that generate nonemitting electricity;

Distribution of infrastructure or grid investments and upgrades in environmental justice communities in the electric company’s service territory, including infrastructure or grid investments that facilitate the electric company’s compliance with the clean energy targets set forth in ORS 469A.410;

Social, economic or environmental justice cobenefits that result from the electric company’s investments, contracts or internal practices;

Customer experience, including a review of annual customer satisfaction surveys;

Actions to encourage customer engagement; and

Other items as determined by the electric company and the electric company’s Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group.

The electric company may engage the Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group to advise on other matters, including but not limited to:

The development and equitable implementation of a clean energy plan as determined in ORS 469A.415;

The development and equitable implementation of a distribution system plan;

Equitable contracting practices; and

Best practices and strategies for reducing energy burden and disconnections in the electric company’s service territory.

The commission shall establish a process for an electric company to contemporaneously recover the cost associated with the development of biennial reports and the costs associated with compensation or reimbursement for time and travel of members of a Community Benefits and Impacts Advisory Group.