Ashland Electric — the power is in our hands

Ashland Electric serves more than 11,000 residential, commercial and government customers. City of Ashland photo

Originally published July 30, 2024, in the City Corner column of Ashland.news.

Owning its electric utility gives the city the ability to provide residents cleaner, less expensive power

By Bob Kaplan

Did you know that Ashland is one of just 12 Oregon municipalities that owns its electric utility? It’s a fascinating history that started more than a hundred years ago; read about it here on the city’s website. This visionary move has provided many advantages to Ashland residents over the years. What’s more, with all the focus on renewable energy and climate change these days, owning our electric company has positioned Ashland exceptionally well for the future.

Ashland Electric serves more than 11,000 residential, commercial and government customers, and our team of dedicated professionals does a stellar job keeping the lights on, consistently receiving the Excellence in Reliability award from the American Public Power Association.

Residents in all our neighboring communities, from Mount Shasta to Roseburg, from Crescent City to Lakeview, purchase electricity from Pacific Power, a for-profit subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Not surprisingly, Pacific Power charges more and offers fewer perks, discounts and rebates. Ashland, on the other hand, sets its own rate structure based on our values and priorities of affordability, community resilience and reducing our climate impact.

Running the numbers

Ashland households pay significantly less for electricity than our neighbors in Talent, Phoenix and Medford. Although we pay a higher fixed monthly meter fee, and, since the 1970s, a 25% tax to support other city services (like fire and rescue and police), our price per kilowatt hour is substantially lower, particularly benefiting those who use the least amount of electricity. Here are the details, including an example for a typical household using 1,000kWh per month:

AshlandPacific Power
Monthly meter fee$16.25$11.00
Tier 1: up to 500kWh$0.0757/kWh$0.1371/kWh
Tier 2: 501kWh – 5,000kWh$0.0911/kWh$0.1371/kWh
Tier 3: Over 5,000kWh$0.1294/kWh$0.1371/kWh
Example: 1,000kWh/month$99.65$148.10
Including 25% electricity tax$124.56$148.10

In addition, Ashland’s utility discount program provides low-income households with a 50% discount for three winter months, or for six months for qualifying seniors and persons with disabilities. The council has asked staff for proposals to expand our utility discount programs further.

Where does Ashland’s electricity come from?

Since 1982, Ashland has purchased wholesale power from the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency that manages a network of 31 hydropower dams in the Columbia River basin. Ashland consumes about 20 average annual megawatts, with summer and winter peak loads of about 40MW.

Our current contract with BPA expires at the end of September 2028, and the groundwork is already being laid for the next contract, which will run through September 2044. BPA’s policy for serving its Provider of Choice customers (like Ashland) continues to prioritize low pricing while providing more flexibility to meet local objectives, like adding more local renewable resources to the mix.

In addition to power from BPA, the city owns a small 850kW hydropower plant below Reeder Reservoir, and about 4% of our needs are met by over 5MW of local solar capacity owned by local residents and businesses. Southern Oregon University has been visionary in pursuing opportunities to expand its solar plant, and the city recently installed dual-axis solar trackers at our operations center along with battery backup to provide resilience for some city operations. Last year we received a state grant to explore other solar sites on city-owned property to add more local solar capacity.

Ashland Electric’s role in the city’s Climate and Energy Action Plan

Owning our electric utility gives Ashland a terrific advantage for meeting the goals of the city’s Climate and Energy Action Plan, approved in 2017. The plan calls for reducing our use of dirty fossil fuels like “natural” gas (methane) and gasoline by switching to electricity to power our buildings and vehicles. Since virtually all our electric power comes from renewable sources, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality ranks Ashland Electric among the cleanest in the state. Pacific Power, on the other hand, gets almost two-thirds of its electricity from coal and methane; it’s required by state law to reduce that to zero by 2040.

I’m proud our city helps residents and businesses reduce their carbon footprint by offering a variety of rebates and incentives to replace inefficient and fossil fuel-powered household appliances such as furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers and stoves or ranges, and I look forward to doing more. Replacing aging gas appliances with electric ones also improves air quality and can save households on their monthly utility costs too.

Ashland offers two advantageous routes for customers who want to use solar power. First, when customers install panels on their property, the city credits their account at the prevailing marginal rate tier rather than at a fixed preset lower rate, as is common practice at other electric companies. The second route is “virtual net metering” (community solar), which credits customers for electricity generated off-site, typically as part of a large array. Several Ashland businesses have taken advantage of this policy, and the Ashland Solar Co-op is about to build an array this year for renters and homeowners. While Pacific Power charges community solar customers an extra $20 a month for the privilege of generating their own electricity, Ashland Electric does not currently charge a monthly subscription or administrative fee for this service.

Finally, Bonneville Power’s post-2028 policy will make it easier to add larger solar arrays up to 1MW each. Under the current BPA contract, each solar array is limited to 200kW per transformer; that’s what’s installed at Oak Street Tank and Steel and at Ashland Middle School. Larger arrays will allow us to generate and store more electricity locally to mitigate the risk of transmission disruptions.

These are all positives in my book, and I look forward to exploring additional ways to ensure clean, reliable, and affordable power for our community well into the future.

Residential water rates in Ashland

The Ashland water treatment plant. City of Ashland photo.

Originally published April 30, 2024, in the City Corner column of Ashland.news.

How does the city compare with nearby municipalities? It’s complicated

By Bob Kaplan

I’ve had several conversations recently about Ashland’s water rates. Are they high? Are they low? How are they set?

Not surprisingly, it’s complicated! Each city chooses its own mix of flat monthly fees and consumption charges to cover costs, along with how steeply rates should climb for households that consume the most water. Medford charges extra to deliver water to households at higher elevations. Grants Pass includes a “water plant replacement fee” in its flat monthly charge.

How Ashland does it

Ashland’s water rate structure is based on a 2016 Water Cost of Services Study.

Residential customers pay a monthly flat rate to cover fixed operating costs. It includes a customer charge of $13.33, and a basic service charge depending on the diameter of the household’s water meter ($15.62 for a three-quarter-inch meter) — a total of $28.95 per month.

Volumetric (consumption) charges cover the cost of collecting, treating and distributing our water. To encourage conservation, prices increase as a household uses more water, particularly in summer when water is especially precious. We even add another rate tier between June and September to discourage very high consumption (over 3,600 cubic feet or 26,928 gallons per month).

Your water bill includes a graph showing monthly usage over the last year. Our household used 7,800 cubic feet last year. In the winter we used 100 cubic feet per month, at an average cost of $32/month. All but $3 was the flat customer and service charges. Our low water use reflects the fact that we are a two-person household, and we have low-flow faucets, shower heads, toilets and efficient WaterSense appliances.

In summer we use a lot more water because we have a yard. Although we’ve removed most of our lawn and we irrigate with drip emitters and micro-sprayers, our plants need a lot of water. Last year, we averaged about 1,700 cubic feet per month in the heat of summer. Our monthly bill averaged $93, and most of that was the consumption charge.

How does Ashland compare with other cities?

It’s hard to compare across jurisdictions, but here’s a table comparing what two households might pay in Ashland and neighboring communities. Check these against your May bill to see how your costs might compare.

To go to the respective city’s link, click on name here: Ashland, Grants Pass, Medford, Phoenix or Talent.

The bottom line: Ashland households that don’t use much water likely pay less than they would in Phoenix or Grants Pass, but more than Medford or Talent. Households using a lot of water probably pay more in Ashland than they would elsewhere in the valley.

What can we expect in the future?

Ashland hasn’t raised water rates since 2019, so we’re due for an increase as the cost of labor and materials has gone up.

Additionally, we need to replace our aging water treatment plant. It’s located in a narrow canyon below Reeder Reservoir — which provides almost all of our drinking water. There’s no space there to treat toxic algae that are a growing risk with hotter summers, and the treatment plant is vulnerable to floods, fires and landslides. The estimated cost to replace the plant is $55 million to $70 million.

A portion of the $17 million accumulated balance in the water fund can cover some of the cost, and staff have identified long-term low-interest financing for the rest. When staff presented estimates last December that would increase rates 10% annually over the next few years, the City Council asked for additional modeling. We asked staff to: (1) explore raising rates more for high than low-usage households; (2) look for more low-cost financing and grants; and (3) expand utility discounts for low-income households. In short, we’re looking for the most equitable way to ensure safe drinking water long into the future. In the meantime, please take advantage of the city’s assistance to conserve water and start saving money today.

Managing our water resources

Reeder Reservoir, the primary source of Ashland’s drinking water. City of Ashland photo

Originally published April 6, 2024, in the City Corner column of Ashland.news.

We all need to use water wisely because changing climate and population growth will increase total demand

By Bob Kaplan

I’ve been a water geek since before I went to Paraguay with the Peace Corps as a water and sanitation volunteer at age 21. So it was fun to join Ashland’s ad hoc water advisory committee last year, when city staff and consultants were due to update our Water Management and Conservation Master Plan. I was eager to do a deep dive into all the factors that help us ensure access to sufficient water for the next 20 years and beyond.

Where do we get our water?

We have three sources, and Ashland has a nifty dashboard to track them all year long.

Reeder Reservoir. Our main source is Reeder Reservoir, which collects Ashland Creek flows from above the reservoir and can store up to 280 million gallons. Winter snowpack is a critical determinant of the volume and duration of Ashland Creek flows into Reeder. Our capable water team in the public works department controls the water level so we mostly use Reeder throughout the year. They hold the level at about 60 percent through the winter for flood control and in April/May start filling it to 100 percent to maximize availability during the summer irrigation season.

Talent Irrigation District. Our secondary source used to be the TID, a separate system connected to Howard Prairie and Hyatt Lakes. We treated some TID water to add to our potable water supply, but we haven’t done so recently with TID water levels so low. Even so, when untreated TID water is available to folks with a connection for several weeks each summer, it reduces the draw on our potable water system. Although TID reservoirs are filling ahead of last year’s levels, they’re still below their long-term average. (By the way: Nearby Emigrant Lake doesn’t feed Ashland’s ditch spur of the TID; it connects to the TID farther down the valley below Ashland.)

Talent Irrigation District storage system and canals. TID map

Talent-Ashland-Phoenix Intertie (TAP). Lastly, Ashland has rights to 1,000 acre feet of water stored in Lost Creek Lake (about 326 million gallons). We pay the Medford Water Commission to treat our Lost Creek Lake water, and we pipe it to Ashland through TAP to add to our potable water network. TAP infrastructure can handle about 2 million gallons a day — an important variable for our water team as they manage supply to meet demand.

The state has certified a permit for a bit more than half of our Lost Creek Lake water right. To permit the rest, we need to show the state how much water we have and how much we’ll need over the next 20 years. The Water Management and Conservation Plan is how we do that. 

How much water do we need?

Ashland normally uses about a billion gallons of potable water each year, 80 percent of which comes from Reeder Reservoir. From mid-May through October, we use between 3 and 6 million gallons a day, versus about 1.5 to 1.8 million gallons a day during the rest of the year when we’re not watering our gardens.

During the summer, the stream flow into Reeder Reservoir slows to a trickle, and that’s when we need to “turn on” the TAP. If we didn’t, we’d deplete the reservoir in about six weeks! So sometime in July or August we begin to draw some of our water rights from Lost Creek Lake to reduce the strain on Reeder. But since TAP can only handle a maximum of 2.13 million gallons per day (a bit more than a third of our summer needs), the water level in Reeder still drops pretty quickly in August. 

The Water Management and Conservation Plan

The purpose of the plan is to balance our water sources and guide water management and conservation policies, programs, practices and financing to ensure long-term water sufficiency in Ashland.

It’s chock full of interesting data and trend analyses. You can read what staff presented to the city council last November here.

My main takeaways:
  • Our changing climate means hotter and drier summers and less winter snowpack. Outdoor plants will be more stressed in summer. A lighter snowpack means smaller flows into Reeder Reservoir, particularly in August and September, and more need to rely on TAP. 
  • We’ll have more days in the spring and fall when the temperature climbs above 70 degrees. That translates into extra irrigation days — and a greater draw on Reeder in these shoulder months.
  • Conservation is an additional “source.” We’ve reduced our usage from an average of 160 gallons per person per day in 2005 to 139 gallons in 2022, but that’s still high compared to places where water is in short supply. Further reductions are possible, but they’ll be more difficult to achieve, particularly when our non-native plants now call out for more water in spring and fall. The plan reviews progress against benchmarks set in 2014 and defines additional measures going forward, but it doesn’t set a per person or overall conservation target beyond what we’ve already achieved.
  • We need to secure our remaining water right from Lost Creek Lake. But this can never be more than our secondary source because it’s less than a third of our total demand and because TAP can only transmit a third of our daily needs in summer.

The bottom line is we all need to use water wisely because the changing climate and population growth will increase our total demand. We can all cut our water use indoors by installing low-flow faucets, showerheads, toilets and washing machines, and we can choose drought-tolerant plants and efficient irrigation to reduce our outdoor use too. Saving water also saves money! Check out these city resources for water saving devices and rebates.

A look at efforts to bring in affordable housing

Originally published December 20, 2024, in the City Corner column of Ashland.news.

Ashland needs to add lower-cost homes; getting them built hasn’t been easy

By Bob Kaplan

Ashland is a fabulous place to live — if you can afford it.

When you ask Ashlanders about our biggest issues, the cost of housing often rises to the top. When I ran for City Council in 2022, I was motivated to work on solutions to this crisis. Since then, I’ve learned how hard it is to solve this issue. A lot has been done, and groundwork has been laid for lots more. At the same time, I understand worries that nothing is happening. 

I’ve also gotten a pretty clear picture of how many people and families are struggling, and it’s deepened my commitment to make a difference. 

How bad is it?

It typically costs more to buy or rent a home in Ashland than in neighboring communities because of high demand and limited supply. Over the last decade, we’ve gained about 80 to 100 new housing units a year. We need many more. The city’s 2021 Housing Capacity Analysis says single-family detached dwellings account for about two-thirds of Ashland’s housing stock. The good news is that of the 680 homes built since 2018, two-thirds have been multifamily, mixed-use or ADUs.

Housing is considered “affordable” if the folks living there spend no more than 30% of their gross income on rent or mortgage payments, utilities, insurance and property taxes. Planners define “affordable housing” in relation to the area’s median family income. A household earning between 80% and 120% of the MFI is considered “middle income”; “low income” is 50%-80%; and “very low income” is less than 50%. 

Many Ashlanders would benefit from lower-cost housing. Ashland’s 10,120 households are split almost evenly between owners and renters: 

  • Over a third are considered “very low income” — earning less than $36,600 a year for a family of four. 
  • Almost half are “cost-burdened,” meaning they pay more than 30% of their income on housing.
  • About a quarter are severely cost burdened, meaning they pay more than 50% on housing.

Check out the chart below from the city’s 2023 Housing Production Strategy.

These numbers are from 2021, but even then it was hard to find housing at these prices. And today’s interest rates mean monthly mortgage payments are higher too.

The challenges:
Why can’t we do more, faster? 
  • High cost of land. We don’t have a lot of undeveloped land, and construction costs have skyrocketed. It’s hard to build affordable houses without hefty subsidies.
  • Money: Public subsidies, grants, and/or tax incentives. The city provides some help but doesn’t have a lot to offer. Federal and state programs are very competitive — and complicated.
  • Zoning. Our land use regulations used to favor single-family homes. That’s changed as the city relaxed height restrictions, allowed greater density and removed parking requirements. There’s room for in-fill, but most vacant lots are too small for large apartment complexes that might offer lower rents.
  • Opposition. Neighbors worry about increased traffic and loss of open space, or that new developments will lower their property values. Sometimes these concerns can be satisfied, but in the meantime, projects are delayed — increasing the cost — or sometimes they just die. 
What are we doing?

Ashland has pioneered many creative initiatives and continues looking for new strategies. Here are a few examples from the Housing Production Strategy:

  • Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Ashland began allowing ADUs in all residential zones in 1991. Today almost 300 ADUs dot the city, with 109 constructed in just the last seven years. They’re often the most affordable housing options. The city now offers preapproved architectural plans to simplify permitting.
  • Inclusionary zoning. When a developer applies to annex land into the city, Ashland requires 25% of new units to be affordable. The Beach Creek development on North Mountain includes eight deed-restricted houses, two under construction by Habitat for Humanity.
  • Tax and fee waivers and incentives. Ashland waives various fees and charges for building new affordable units. 
  • The Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Ashland created an Affordable Housing Trust Fund in 2008, but it didn’t have a regular source of revenue until 2017 when we began feeding it with $100,000 a year from marijuana tax revenues. That’s not a lot, but it can leverage funding from other sources.
What else can the city do?

Ashland was the first city of its size to complete a state-mandated Housing Production Strategy (HPS). I was a member of the advisory committee in 2022, and the council approved the strategy last year.

The HPS commits the city to specific actions to increase availability of housing, with a focus on affordability and equity. Here’s what’s on deck over the next five years (pp 35-36, HPS). I’ve noted actions that are already underway: 

Priority actionInitiative (and primary or secondary focus)
Encourage new low- and moderate-income rental housingIncrease opportunities for affordable homeownershipEncourage new income-restricted affordable housing unitsPreserve existing low- and moderate-income housing
Evaluate land banking (underway)PrimaryPrimaryPrimary
Evaluate community land trusts (underway)PrimaryPrimary
Host education and outreach efforts (underway)SecondaryPrimaryPrimaryPrimary
Develop an Equitable Housing Plan (2025)SecondaryPrimaryPrimaryPrimary
Disallow single family dwellings in high density R-3 zonesPrimarySecondarySecondary
Evaluate increasing allowances for residences in commercial and employment zones (underway)Primary
Support preservation of existing manufactured home parks (underway)SecondaryPrimaryPrimary
Increase development capacity for multifamily residencesPrimaryPrimary
Implement multiple-unit property tax exemption for multifamily or affordable housingPrimarySecondary
Preserve and improve existing low-cost, unregulated rental housingPrimary
Support development of additional permanent supportive housingPrimary
Evaluate opportunities to improve energy efficiency (underway)PrimaryPrimarySecondary
Establish a construction excise taxPrimaryPrimaryPrimaryPrimary
Evaluate using urban renewalSecondarySecondaryPrimaryPrimary
Identify additional funding sources for the Affordable Housing Trust FundPrimaryPrimaryPrimaryPrimary
Conclusion

Our housing problem may still feel intractable, and progress is slow, but we are focused on removing obstacles and creating opportunities that weren’t on the table five years ago and that could make a big difference over the coming years.

Email Ashland City Councilor Bob Kaplan at bob.kaplan@council.ashland.or.us. Email letters to the editor and Viewpoint submissions to news@ashland.news.

Ashland’s residential electric rates — lowest in Southern Oregon

Originally published November 18, 2025, in the City Corner column of Ashland.news

United States’ cities average electricity price per kWh. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, APU000072610], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU000072610, Nov. 10, 2025.

November 18, 2025

The city’s due for a rate increase but residents may continue to pay less than neighboring communities

By Bob Kaplan

Across the country, folks are alarmed at the rapidly increasing cost of electricity and gas in our household budgets. Based on data collected monthly in 75 urban areas by the federal Department of Energy, average retail electric rates have increased by almost 40% over the last five years.

Fortunately, that’s not the case in Ashland. While the cost of delivering kilowatt-hours to our homes has risen, Ashland Electric has been able to hold our rates steady with just one increase of 5.1% in 2021. I’m sorry to say we’re due for an increase, but fortunately it’s not likely to match recent increases elsewhere. The City Council will be reviewing the cost of service data next month to consider whether a rate increase is needed.

Last year, I wrote a Council Corner column on Ashland’s electric utility: Ashland Electric — the power is in our hands. I was very upbeat about the fact that we own and operate our own electric utility — unlike all our neighboring communities, from Mount Shasta to Roseburg and from Crescent City to Lakeview, who purchase electricity from Pacific Power, a for-profit subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Ashland Electric consistently receives the Excellence in Reliability award from the American Public Power Association.

Our city leaders decided over 100 years ago that the city should be in charge of supplying electricity in Ashland. To this day, we continue to reap the benefits of that decision!

How do our rates compare?

In my previous column, I included a table comparing Ashland’s and Pacific Power’s residential electric rates. The bottom line at that time was that Ashland households paid substantially less for electricity — 16% less for an average household consuming 1,000 kWh per month. This cost comparison includes Ashland’s electric tax that has been in place for almost 50 years.

I thought I’d run the numbers again so we can all have them at the ready when we talk about electric rates over Thanksgiving dinner!

 AshlandPacific Power
Monthly meter fee$16.25$14.00
Tier 1: up to 500 kWh7.57¢/kWh14.373¢/kWh
Tier 2: 501 kWh-5,000 kWh9.11¢/kWh14.373¢/kWh
Tier 3: over 5,000 kWh12.94¢/kWh14.373¢/kWh
Example: 1,000 kWh/month$99.65$157.73
Including 25% electricity tax$124.56$157.73

The bottom line: Ashland households now pay 21% less for our electricity than everyone else in the valley. And remember, this includes our electricity tax.

There are a few other features of our electric rates I’d like to point out.

Support for energy conservation

Ashland’s tiered rate schedule means households that use less electricity pay a lower rate — 7.57 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 500 kWh before stepping up to 9.11 cents per kWh for second-tier rates, compared with Pacific Power’s higher 14.373 cents per kilowatt-hour across the board from the very first kilowatt-hour. That’s consistent with our values. We want folks to conserve electricity if they can, so we make basic service as cheap as possible and charge more as usage goes up.

This means that an Ashland household using only 500 kWh a month pays $67.63 (including the electricity tax) while a household outside Ashland’s city limits pays $85.87 — that’s 27% more!

Furthermore, Ashland Electric also helps residents reduce electricity consumption by providing rebates for energy efficiency investments, including space and water heating equipment. We recently increased those incentives for everybody and we now also pay double for low-income households. Learn more about the city’s energy efficiency incentives here.

Expanded discounts for low income households

Last spring, the City Council approved an expansion of our utility discount program for low-income households. While the electricity discount used to be available only during winter heating months, the new program offers the discount throughout the year for electricity, water and sewer service. Households earning less than 200% of the federal poverty line are eligible for a 30% discount each month up to an annual maximum of $400.

Importantly, households receiving a utility discount must have an energy and water efficiency audit within two years of enrolling in the program. These are conducted free of charge and can help identify opportunities to reduce utility costs through conservation, which has long-lasting benefits for the household. More info on the utility discount program can be found here. By the way, did you know you can round up your utility bill to help your neighbors? About 500 Ashlanders already do that!

Good news from our wholesale supplier

Ashland Electric has purchased wholesale power from Bonneville Power Administration since 1982. We also generate power locally at our 850 kW hydropower plant below Reeder Reservoir, and we have 6.5 megawatts (1 MW = 1,000 kW) of local solar capacity installed by residents and businesses, Southern Oregon University, Ashland School District and the city. These local resources meet about 5% of our annual load.

Last month, the City Council approved a 16-year contract with Bonneville that begins when the current contract ends in 2028. That’s good news because BPA’s wholesale rates are among the lowest in the country and have been very stable over time. That’s one of the reasons we can keep retail rates low while continuing to offer rebates that help Ashland residents and businesses invest in energy efficiency. The new contract will also make it easier to develop additional solar facilities and storage to meet excess load growth and enhance resilience. With about 95% of our electricity coming from renewable sources, Ashland Electric will continue to be among the cleanest electric utilities in the state according to annual reporting by Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality. It’s far cleaner than Pacific Power, which generates almost two-thirds of its electricity by burning coal and methane.

Ashland’s Electricity Tax

I pointed out above that my rate comparisons include Ashland’s electricity tax, and I want to provide some additional background on that. The City Council enacted the tax almost 50 years ago, in April 1976, even before property tax limitations were imposed in the 1990s with Measures 5 and 50. As Oregon’s cities have struggled to find other revenue sources, Ashland has been able to fund a wider range of public services thanks to our electricity tax and our food and beverage tax.

So if the topic of electric rates comes up as we gather for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we can be thankful for the lower rates and the multiple benefits that come from owning our electric utility. Let’s give thanks too for the dedicated city staff who keep our electricity flowing around the clock all year long with very few outages. 

Update, Dec. 14, 2025: Ashland Electric vs. Pacific Power — Another Look

On Dec. 17, the City Council will discuss our electricity rates. In preparation for the meeting, I went back to my Nov. 18 City Corner article that compared Ashland Electric and Pacific Power. I also asked a friend if I could look at their Pacific Power bill, which is surprisingly complicated.

It turns out I missed a few Pacific Power charges. Here’s an updated table.

AshlandPacific Power
Monthly meter fee$16.25$17.33
Tier 1: up to 500kWh7.57¢/kWh14.23¢/kWh
Tier 2: 501kWh – 5,000kWh9.11¢/kWh14.23¢/kWh up to 2,000kWh, then 15.561¢/kWh
Tier 3: over 5,000kWh12.94¢/kWh15.561¢/kWh
Example: 1,000kWh/month$99.65$162.22
Including 25% electricity tax$124.56$162.22

The bottom line: Ashland households pay 23% less for our electricity than everyone else in the valley. And remember, this includes our electricity tax that supports our City’s General Fund.

Email Ashland City Councilor Bob Kaplan at bob.kaplan@council.ashland.or.us. Email letters to the editor and Viewpoint submissions to news@ashland.news.

Dec. 14: Added update.

City Government of, by and for the people

Originally published February 2024 in the City Corner column of Ashland.news

Echo Fields guides discussion at the first meeting of the Homeless Services Master Plan Subcommittee on Tuesday, Jan. 9 — and, City Council member Bob Kaplan says, a “Great pic of the back of my head.” Ashland.news photo by Morgan Rothborne.

Volunteers discuss issues, shape city policy recommendations at advisory committee meetings

By Bob Kaplan

When we talk about the work of our city councilors, most of us probably think about what takes place in the business meetings and study sessions held in council chambers. But there’s a whole lot more to the job. For one thing, we get lots of email! I try to respond promptly (except to boilerplate email that’s all the same) and often suggest getting together over coffee or tea to continue the conversation. 

Each councilor also serves as liaison to at least four other groups — such as Ashland’s advisory committees, regional entities, or community organizations. Here’s the full list of assignments for 2024. It makes for a busy schedule!

Advisory committees are an opportunity for Ashland residents to pitch in on important issues facing our community. I’m frequently awed by the knowledge and commitment of Ashlanders. Each committee is supported by a staff liaison and has a work program that’s defined with the council. Most convene monthly in meetings that are open to the public in compliance with Oregon law; most are also viewable online via Zoom. You can find who’s meeting when and where and what they’re talking about by checking the city calendar or signing up for alerts:

I’m fortunate to serve as liaison to groups working on issues that I’m passionate about: climate change and housing. I’ve worked on issues of poverty, environment, and climate change throughout my career, albeit in Latin America. (The differences aren’t as great as you might imagine.) Housing, environment, and climate change are increasingly interconnected: they’re about livability, equity, and how we foster a community that works for everyone. And they require taking a long view while working hard to get stuff done now.

Climate

I serve with Councilor Jeff Dahle as liaison to the Climate and Environmental Policy Advisory Committee (affectionately known as CEPAC). This is the committee focused on implementing Ashland’s Climate & Energy Action Plan. When the council approved the CEAP in 2017 and embedded it in our municipal code, Ashland committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and becoming more resilient to the changing climate. Using a 2015 greenhouse gas inventory as a baseline, the city mandated carbon neutrality in its operations by 2030, and to slash fossil fuel consumption by 50 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. The CEAP also set a target of reducing community greenhouse gas emissions by 8% per year, on average — which depends on all of us. The CEAP defines priority actions for the city and community to achieve these goals and targets. CEPAC works with staff to track implementation and recommend specific policies and programs to the council.

Last spring, the youth-led Rogue Climate Action Team came to the council asking for a ban on methane (natural gas) in new residential construction. The council asked CEPAC to explore the issue and gather public input. This has been a major undertaking for the committee and city staff, involving consultation with outside experts, outreach to community stakeholders, and two open sessions for public comment last fall. I look forward to council discussion of their analysis and recommendations soon.

Housing

I also serve on the Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee (you got it, HHSAC) with Councilor Dylan Bloom. HHSAC advises the council on a range of policy and funding issues related to housing and community health and well-being. The city receives annual funding from the federal community development block grant (yep, CDBG!) and also budgets resources for our housing trust fund and social service grant program. The committee has developed a robust methodology to evaluate applications for these funds, which helps the council allocate them wisely.

Homelessness is a significant concern in Ashland, as it is across our state and throughout the United States. It has therefore been a frequent topic of discussion on the council as we try to identify how best to approach this challenging and heart-breaking problem that’s gotten worse over the last few decades. Mayor Tonya Graham wrote more fully about it last week and mentioned that the council asked HHSAC to draft a homelessness services master plan (by June) to identify service gaps and guide the city’s investment — a big assignment. HHSAC set up a sub-committee for the task, enlisting additional community members with a range of relevant expertise and experience. They meet twice a month; all meetings are open to the public. Councilor Bloom and I also serve as council liaisons to the sub-committee.

Community involvement

A council liaison doesn’t have a vote in the advisory committees. Our role is to assist our committees and facilitate communication with the council. There is a time at the end of each council meeting for “other business” when we can update the public and our fellow councilors on our assigned committees or request council guidance on a particular point. Our goal is always for the council and committees to work seamlessly together to serve our community. When that works well, it’s very rewarding for all involved, and we see the results around town.

Being part of a city advisory committee is a great way to get involved with local government on issues you really care about and want to help. The best first step is to attend a committee’s meetings. I attended and then served on the climate committee for almost three years before running for city council. The mayor generally appoints a third of the members of each committee each April to a three year term, though she also fills vacancies at other times of the year as they open up. So mark your calendar, attend some of the meetings, and jump in!