Committee signals support to pursue small‑business electrification grants rather than toolkit giveaway

Staff presented four options for spending an estimated $30,000–$40,000 outreach budget: subsidized home energy audits; distributed energy‑efficiency toolkits (LEDs, aerators, weather stripping); a hybrid approach that pairs audits with installer‑installed kit items; and routing ECC funds into the city's new small‑business assistance grant program so the money could be earmarked for energy projects.

Members questioned the expected reach and measurable savings from the toolkit option and raised safety concerns about weatherization kits if homes are not checked for gas leaks before air‑sealing measures. Staff said toolkits can be low cost and broad but that measured energy savings are typically small compared with deeper retrofits.

Committee members also discussed administrative burden and leverage: several favored option 3 (audit plus install) for deeper household impact, while a majority ultimately signaled support to explore the small‑business grant path because ECC's modest funds could be combined with other incentives (for example Energy Trust of Oregon) and existing grant infrastructure managed by the city's business assistance program (BAB). The city's business development representative said the BAB program is still in draft form but could accept earmarked ECC funds and allow ECC involvement in review and criteria design.

Staff said they will follow up with the business assistance program leads to define how ECC funds could be restricted to energy projects, how application review might include ECC input, and a timeline for launching the targeted small‑business grants. Committee members asked staff to return with more specifics on potential match opportunities, program criteria, and expected reach before final allocation.