Clipboards are out and pens are uncapped in Eugene, where environmental organizers have launched a sprint to put a 2% clean energy fee on the November ballot. Volunteers began gathering signatures on April 16 for a measure that would tack a 2% license fee on the gross profits from retail sales of the city’s biggest retailers and banks. Everyday essentials, including groceries, medicines, health care and garbage services, would be exempt.
To make the ballot, petitioners must turn in 8,726 valid signatures by July 27. Campaign leaders say they are aiming for more than 15,000 signatures to cushion against errors and invalidated names. A coalition of local climate and justice groups backing the effort wants the new revenue funneled into energy upgrades, green jobs and neighborhood resilience projects around Eugene.
What the measure would do
The proposal would create the Eugene Clean Energy Fund and require large retailers to obtain a license and pay an annual 2% fee on gross profits from retail sales within city limits beginning Jan. 1, 2029. That framework comes from the ballot title and summary prepared by the City of Eugene.
Under the draft language, a large retailer is defined as a company with more than $1 billion in national gross profits and at least $500,000 in gross profits from Eugene retail sales. Contractors, utilities, cooperatives, credit unions and most sales of groceries, medicines, residential garbage and recycling services, and health care services are excluded.
Money collected through the fee would be dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, clean energy job training, green infrastructure and related administration. The measure calls for an expert committee to recommend how funds are spent, and it caps fund administration at 10% beginning in 2030.
Who is behind the push
The campaign is being driven by a coalition that includes Beyond Toxics, the Breach Collective and the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club. Organizers say they formally filed the ballot language with the city in February.
Breach Collective announced the campaign in a launch post, casting the fee as a way to make billion dollar corporations pay what supporters consider their fair share. The campaign’s own website, they note, lays out a detailed FAQ, an endorsement list and tools for volunteers to plug into canvassing and outreach.
Backers say they intend to prioritize projects that cut household energy costs and create local clean energy jobs, especially in frontline and historically marginalized neighborhoods that have borne the brunt of pollution and high utility bills.
Funding math and the Portland precedent
Organizers estimate the 2% fee could generate about $15 million a year for Eugene. Supporters argue that kind of money could jump start home and building retrofits, workforce training and small scale green infrastructure projects across the city.
The proposal is explicitly modeled on Portland’s Clean Energy Fund, a voter-created program that took effect in 2019 and is projected to raise about $1.7 billion through mid 2029, according to OPB. Eugene backers say their version is designed for smaller, locally managed grants that would not be folded into general city bureau budgets.
Timeline and how to sign
Petition circulators started gathering signatures on April 16 and must deliver completed petition sheets to the city recorder by 5 p.m. on July 27, 2026, according to the city’s elections office. The City of Eugene elections page states that 8,726 valid signatures are required to qualify the measure for the ballot, and notes that the ballot title was certified in mid March after review by the city attorney.
Organizers say they are planning neighborhood tabling, trainings and other on-the-ground outreach to hit their 15,000-signature goal, with an eye on keeping volunteer momentum going through the summer.
Legal questions
Ballot measures that attach fees or taxes to businesses rarely move forward without some legal or political turbulence. Portland’s clean energy fund has already seen lawsuits and competing ballot proposals aimed at reshaping where that money goes.
A recent court decision in Portland, along with follow up filings over measures tied to that city’s climate dollars, highlights the kinds of drafting disputes and language challenges that can arise, according to reporting by OPB. In Eugene, the ballot title went through a formal public challenge window, and the city attorney prepared the final wording before petition circulation was allowed to begin.
Campaign organizers emphasize that their fee is aimed squarely at billion dollar corporations rather than local households. They point to likely targets such as Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and Chase as examples of companies that could meet the revenue thresholds laid out in the measure.
“This is really a progressive revenue generation mechanism that won't affect Eugenians, but will help hold billion dollar corporations accountable,” campaign chief petitioner Aya Cockram told KLCC.
As summer unfolds, campaign staff and volunteers say they will be closely watching signature validation rates and any pushback or support from the business community while they race the city’s July filing deadline.
