For many years, Harold Kettleson has heated his Southeast Portland house with wood. According to the 85-year-old, it’s all he’s ever known.
Kettleson recalled his mother using a wood stove to prepare meals. Our only source of heat as children was a wood stove.
However, Kettleson claimed that it is becoming more difficult to descend the steep wooden stairs into his basement to toss fresh logs on the fire as the years pass. Even his 82-year-old wife, Helen Thorne, who has neuropathy, is unable to descend steps.
Their only source of heat was the stove until last month. Until Multnomah County covered the expense of installing a new heat pump, that is. On January 30, the county completed its work on the 103-year-old house.
According to county data, their house is one of more than 120 that still used natural gas, oil, or wood stoves for heating until the county installed new heat pumps as part of its Wood Stove Exchange program. According to officials, Kettleson and Thorne may also be among the final families to receive assistance from the program because of erratic funding.
“It will be much simpler for me,” Kettleson remarked. And since my wife can go over there and turn up the heat whenever she wants to, it will be much nicer for her.
With $500,000 in one-time financing, the county initiative began as a pilot in 2022 to help low-income households in neighborhoods with high pollution levels. As part of the county’s attempts to become more climate resilient, it has once more received one-time assistance in each of the previous two fiscal years.
In order to aid during the hot and occasionally fatal summer months, the county started a similar pilot program last year that supplies heat pumps to mobile home villages in the eastern parts of the county. At a cost of $511,000, the initiative has so far given 79 households a portable air conditioner or heat pump, according to Riddle.
The programs have relied on state and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality money as well as federal funds from the COVID-19 era that have expired. Their remaining expenses are paid for by the county’s general fund, which authorities estimate will have a deficit of at least $21 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
Programs like the wood stove exchange and mobile home heating pilot may lose funding as the county attempts to bridge that budget shortfall while still paying essential services like the county jail and health clinics.
Funding for the stove exchange program until June 30 has been approved by the Board of Commissioners. Additionally, unless lawmakers extend it, a state heat pump program that funded the county’s mobile home heat pump pilot will expire that month.
“I just don’t see this as something they’re going to be able to do,” Riddle added, referring to the anticipated cuts this year.
Through the wood stove exchange program, the county has so far spent more than $1.3 million to replace heating systems, according to Riddle. For those who qualify for a stove replacement, the program employs a sliding scale. Depending on their region and income level, people can be eligible for a $5,000 grant, a $7,000 grant, or a full installation, according to Riddle.
According to Riddle, the county paid the entire $22,150 price tag for Kettelson and Thorne. They said that because they both have fixed salaries, they otherwise couldn’t have afforded the improvement.
In addition to making it simpler for Kettelson and Thorne to regulate their home’s heating and stay warm, the heat pump will stop any possible smoke pollution from escaping their home and entering the adjacent Kellogg Middle School, which was built in 2021 and now shares a property line with the house. According to officials, the school filed a complaint with the city soon after the renovation, but because of their age, the city gave Kettelson and Thorne a burn exemption.
After seeing the fliers and booklets about the wood stove swap, their grandson, Casey Thorne, persuaded them to get in touch with the county for assistance in improving their heating system, he said.
Thorne stated, “I’m sure there were other people who needed it and still do.” I’m happy it was us.
The residential installations are picked up by the county in collaboration with a number of small firms. With his crew, Evan Daigneault, owner of Advance Design Build, renovated Kettelson and Thorne’s house.
According to Daigneault, I am a tiny business. Although we make an effort to diversify, this is a significant portion of our work. Additionally, I don’t believe that if this program ended, these people would be able to purchase these systems.
In the house where she raised six children and created many memories, Thorne expressed her gratitude for the county’s assistance and said she can now stay warm and cool in the summer.
“I’m always cold because of my neuropathy,” Thorne remarked. I am eagerly anticipating this. It is more necessary.
On February 21, departments in Multnomah County will release their proposed budgets. Department heads were instructed by chair Jessica Vega Pederson to create budget scenarios for funding reductions of 8%, 10%, and 12%.
Austin De Dios reports on programs, politics, and other topics in Multnomah County. You can reach him at @AustinDeDios, [email protected], or 503-319-9744.
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