Students and advocacy group press council to invest in school and municipal solar; PCAT urges ESPC to include schools

A group of students from Portland High School urged the City Council to "Solarize schools and take the next step for a sustainable Portland," calling on city leaders to invest in solar on municipal and school roofs.

Bill Weber, representing the Portland Climate Action Team (PCAT), told the council the city risks missing its interim 2030 greenhouse-gas target and urged the sustainability and transportation committee to develop a recovery plan in 2026. Weber advocated for an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) that would include both municipal operations and school buildings, arguing that bundling projects yields better cost savings and a higher chance of success, noting that the city reduced municipal operations emissions by 30% in 2011 using a self-funded ESPC.

Miles Smith, chair of the Portland Bike Ped Advisory Committee (joining by Zoom), suggested studying a corporate clean-energy tax modeled on a policy in Portland, Oregon, that charges large corporations to fund clean-energy investments and estimated significant potential revenue.

Speakers urged the council and school district to coordinate; several speakers expressed willingness to help implement projects and to work with the sustainability committee.

No formal action was taken at the council meeting on these requests; speakers asked staff and committees to take up ESPC planning and to include schools in energy audits.