Energy Trust of Oregon receives Coalition’s highest honor

Photo courtesy of the Energy Trust of Oregon

NW Energy Coalition executive director Sara Patton (second from left) presents the Bob Olsen Memorial Conservation Eagle award to Energy Trust of Oregon executive director Margie Harris and board president John Reynolds (second from right). Policy associate Steve Weiss from the Coalition’s Salem, Ore., office is at far right.

The Eagle is NW Energy Coalition’s highest honor, awarded annually by the Coalition board to recognize individual or organizational leadership for a clean and affordable energy future. Click here for a list of past award winners.

During the April 7 award presentation, Patton noted that ETO services, incentives and investments have saved Oregon gas and electric customers more than $440 million in energy costs since 2002, created more than 1,800 Oregon jobs and stimulated $9.1 million in new business income. Its programs are now keeping an estimated $3 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

The Conservation Eagle award is named for former Coalition chair Bob Olsen, a longtime public utility district commissioner in Washington state who dedicated more than 20 years of his life to securing regional investments in cost-effective energy efficiency and to protecting energy consumers.