Salem, OR — Oregon’s 2025 legislative session delivered unprecedented victories for responsible investing and working families, with the passage of two groundbreaking pieces of legislation that protect retirement security and ensure that Oregonians aren’t picking up the tab for massive energy consumption users, like data centers, through higher electricity bills. The Climate Resilience Investment Act and the POWER Act represent significant advances in responsible investing policy, positioning Oregon as a national leader in responsible investing.
These policies deliver concrete benefits for Oregon’s economy by lowering costs for families through long-term sustainability investments, helping Oregon companies remain competitive globally and attracting investment capital in future-focused industries. Additionally, these policies support resilient retirement savings and state investments while avoiding costly environmental and social risks.
“At a time when responsible investing is under attack across the country, Oregon has chosen to stand with working families,” said Kyle Herrig, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “These historic measures protect Oregonians from both unstable retirement investments and unfair energy costs—proving that bold leadership can deliver real financial security for everyday people. Treasurer Steiner and the Oregon Legislature deserve enormous credit for prioritizing families over corporate profits.”
Climate Resilience Investment Act Protects Oregonians’ Retirement Security
This landmark legislation, known as the Climate Resilience Investment Act (HB 2081) and signed into law by Governor Kotek in June, protects the retirement savings of Oregon’s teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public servants by ensuring their pensions are managed with consideration of known investment risks.
At a press conference celebrating the passage of Treasurer Steiner’s Climate Resilience Investment Act, Steiner told Oregonians that the bill makes “a commitment to protect the financial future of retirees from the investment risks of fossil fuels—while we make investments in the clean energy transition that offers lower energy costs, cleaner air, new jobs, and communities better prepared to withstand wildfires, heat domes, super-charged storms and other climate-related disasters.”
The bill is “a bold step to protect retirees at a time of global economic uncertainty and efforts in Washington, DC and other states to limit the freedom of institutional investors to invest responsibly and make fully informed investment decisions,” Steiner added.
The legislation garnered support from diverse stakeholders, including SEIU Local 503, which represents 72,000 Oregon workers. At a press conference celebrating the passage of the Climate Resilience Investment Act, SEIU 503 President Johnny Earl, told reporters “today is a long time coming for our members.”
He continued, “the evolution to a clean energy economy will be a just transition to good union jobs in renewable energy. We can make investments to grow our pension fund, while developing our renewable energy economy.”
Additionally, SEIU 503 Local leadership emphasized this legislations’ significance in a recent op-ed highlighting how the law will “pave the way for a climate-resilient future for the state’s public workers, communities and our economy.”
POWER Act Ensures Energy Cost Fairness
Governor Kotek signed the POWER Act (House Bill 3546) into law, empowering Oregon’s Public Utility Commission to establish separate rate classes for high-energy facilities like data centers. This ensures that high-energy commercial users pay their fair share rather than passing costs onto everyday ratepayers.
In a statement featured in KOIN, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future Kyle Herrig said, “Hard-working Oregon families who earn their paychecks and pay their bills each month shouldn’t have to subsidize the massive energy consumption of for-profit data centers through higher utility bills.”
To speak with a business leader, UAF spokesperson, or advocates about this legislation, please email us at press@unlockingamericasfuture.org.
