Fairness, The Public Purpose Fund

Oregon's Public Purpose Fund was not created as another trick to boost utility profit or to create jobs, or to promote some favored business or new green technology. A need was seen to help people to do right with power consumption for home heating (and not cooling, especially). Some people need a message, or direct help, to get weatherization done first, and then to use greener power. Only by handing out help up-front where needed, do the funds go fairly to all people. Where funds are offered only as rebates, they go only to the wise who are both thrifty and more-affluent. They need instead to go to all equally, even to the unwise. It is not fair to take money from the unwise or unfortunate, and give some back only if they have the savings or take out a home equity loan, to do the good thing. It is especially unfair to take the money in utility fees paid by renters, who have no way of getting any back.

Of course the justification to anyone of a public purpose fund, is that utilities to some degree, and all of us to a larger degree, are better off, when energy is not wasted.