It doesn’t matter if you are the type willing to challenge anyone looking askance at your gas stove or if you begin each day with a quick prayer for the end of Aramco, it’s not a bad thing that the Bend City Council is being careful about encouraging electrification and discouraging fossil fuels.

Councilors discussed what the city might do Wednesday night. The answer seems to be: Go slow.

City staff and the city’s environment committee is going to take the next six months to engage the community and develop policy options.

“No one likes hearing we are going to analyze something for six months, but half of the process will be community and stakeholder engagement and as you are well aware that just takes time,” Cassie Lacy, a senior management analyst told councilors.

The legal and regulatory landscape is uncertain. Cities like Eugene have tried things to impel themselves along the path to electrification and been compelled to backtrack.

“Had we regulated a year ago we would be unwinding it,” Mary Winters, Bend’s city attorney said. “…Every city that has adopted a regulation has had to repeal it,” she added later.

Bend is governed by federal law and then state law. What Bend can do is not the same as what a city in another state can do. And through those federal and state regulations, the city’s lawyers don’t see a clear path, yet. There may be voluntary things the city could do with incentives or even restrictions. It’s not clear.

“I know this is frustrating but for me this is a little bit of go slow to go fast,” said Mayor Melanie Kebler. “We have seen other cities — Eugene — move quickly to an outcome that they wanted and the lack of the local data and analysis and bringing it to local stakeholders was what ended up getting them in a position where they had to rescind that because the community did not want to support that.”

Uncertainty is just about the only thing clogging the city of Bend from moving toward policies promoting more electrification and ensuring that energy is clean. We didn’t hear any councilors express reluctance. But it would be wrong for the city to do anything fast.