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Environmental groups want to see Bend create mandatory policies to reduce fossil fuel use.

Representatives from the Bend Chamber of Commerce and other business groups want the city to go slowly and use outreach/education and incentives, rather than regulatory diktats for electrification.

The Central Oregon Builders’ Association says building electrification on its own would not be an issue but is concerned about any added fees.

Cascade Natural Gas would prefer voluntary measures and a fuel-neutral approach to decarbonization — electrification is not the only option.

Pacific Power and Central Electric Cooperative both expressed concern about meeting demand for new electricity and the infrastructure that would be required.

Those are some minor windows into the city’s meetings with stakeholder groups about the direction Bend should take to any push toward electrification. We can’t say those insights were unpredictable. Much more is available here: tinyurl.com/Bendstakeholders.

What’s more interesting is that the city chose to have these conversations with stakeholders behind closed doors. The public was not allowed in.

We don’t suspect for a minute anything underhanded went on. But when the city blocks the public from being able to see what goes into making transformational policy, the public is right to be uncertain about what happened. What was really said? What influence did stakeholders try to exert on the process? Who stood up for consumers?