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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
House Bill 2909
Sponsored by Representative EVANS (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced. The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: The Act creates the OPUHSC as part of the ODEM. (Flesch Readability Score: 95.1).
Establishes the Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Commission within the Oregon De-
partment of Emergency Management.
Establishes the Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Fund.
Establishes a grant program for the purpose of providing financial assistance to consumer-owned
utilities for developing projects associated with natural disaster mitigation, prevention, response and
recovery.
Authorizes the issuance of lottery bonds to finance projects associated with natural disaster
mitigation, prevention, response and recovery.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to public utilities.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1.
As used in sections 3 and 5 of this 2025 Act, “consumer-owned utility” means
a people’s utility district organized under ORS chapter 261, a municipal utility organized
under ORS chapter 225 or an electric cooperative organized under ORS chapter 62.
SECTION 2. (1) There is established within the Oregon Department of Emergency Man-
agement the Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Commission.
(2) The commission shall consist of five members appointed by the Governor.
(3) The commission shall carry out the duties and functions described in section 3 of this
2025 Act.
(4) A majority of the members of the commission constitutes a quorum for the trans-
action of business.
(5) Official action by the commission requires the approval of a majority of the members
of the commission.
(6) The commission shall elect one of its members to serve as chairperson.
(7) If there is a vacancy for any cause, the appointing authority shall make an appoint-
ment to become immediately effective.
(8) The commission shall meet at times and places specified by the call of the chairperson
or a majority of the members of the commission.
(9) The commission may adopt rules necessary for the operation of the commission.
SECTION 3.
(1) The Oregon Department of Emergency Management shall make grants
from the Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Fund established under section 4 of this
2025 Act to consumer-owned utilities for the purposes of implementing projects related to
natural disaster mitigation, prevention, response and recovery strategies, such as:
(a) The evaluation of facilities owned by consumer-owned utilities to determine whether
the facilities meet state safety standards;
NOTE:Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [ italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 1658
HB 2909
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(b) The assessment of facilities owned by consumer-owned utilities to determine capabil-
ities and vulnerabilities;
(c) The review of facility construction standards related to service reliability that are
used by consumer-owned utilities;
(d) The establishment of resiliency measures;
(e) The development of a prioritization schedule for restoring power to certain critical
infrastructure, such as hospitals, after a power outage; and
(f) The review of operations, planning and infrastructure protection processes.
(2) To receive a grant under this section, a consumer-owned utility shall submit to the
Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Commission a proposal for a project described in
subsection (1) of this section. The proposal must include a description of the proposed
project, an explanation of the need for the project, the estimated cost of the project and the
estimated amount of grant moneys that the consumer-owned utility needs to complete the
project.
(3) The commission shall prescribe the form and manner of making a proposal under this
section.
(4) Upon receiving a proposal under this section, the commission shall evaluate the pro-
posal to determine whether to recommend to the Oregon Department of Emergency Man-
agement the awarding of a grant to the consumer-owned utility that submitted the proposal.
In evaluating a proposal, the commission shall consider:
(a) The need for the proposed project;
(b) The degree to which the project will enhance natural disaster mitigation, prevention,
response and recovery;
(c) The feasibility of a consumer-owned utility completing the project; and
(d) The feasibility of a consumer-owned utility completing the project at the estimated
cost.
SECTION 4.
(1) The Oregon Department of Emergency Management shall establish the
Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Fund. The fund is separate and distinct from the
General Fund.
(2) The Oregon Public Utility Homeland Security Fund shall consist of moneys appropri-
ated by the Legislative Assembly to the department for the purposes described in section 3
of this 2025 Act.
(3) Moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the department for the purposes
of:
(a) Making grants as described in section 3 of this 2025 Act; and
(b) Paying the administrative costs incurred under sections 2 and 3 of this 2025 Act.
SECTION 5.
(1) In addition to and not in lieu of the budget authorization to issue lottery
bonds under ORS 286A.035, for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, at the request of the
Oregon Department of Administrative Services, after the department consults with the
Oregon Department of Emergency Management, the State Treasurer is authorized to issue
lottery bonds pursuant to ORS 286A.560 to 286A.585 in an amount that produces $ in
net proceeds and interest earnings for the purposes described in section 3 of this 2025 Act,
plus an additional amount estimated by the State Treasurer to be necessary to pay bond-
related costs.
(2) Net proceeds of lottery bonds issued under this section and interest earnings in an
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HB 2909
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amount sufficient to provide $
must be transferred to the Oregon Department of
Administrative Services to provide a grant to the Oregon Department of Emergency Man-
agement. The department shall use the grant to fund projects as described in section 3 of
this 2025 Act.
(3) The Legislative Assembly finds that the use of lottery bond proceeds pursuant to this
section for the purposes of projects related to natural disaster mitigation, prevention, re-
sponse and recovery strategies for consumer-owned utilities creates jobs and furthers eco-
nomic development.
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