This guest article was written by Keith Daellenbach and edited by Adrienne So.
On April 6, the City of Portland announced an innovative $20 million electric bike rebate program for qualified residents. Stated goals include reducing carbon emissions, lowering economic barriers for low- and moderate-income citizens, and making Portland more resilient to climate change.
All of these are admirable, and as a citizen who regularly bikes 17 miles one-way across town to work in Beaverton and over 3,000 commuting miles annually, I am a fan of getting as many people as possible on bicycles and out of cars.
But there’s no way to avoid it. E-bikes consume electricity, which is generated from sources like natural gas, coal, wind, and solar panels. E-bikes have an operational carbon footprint and corresponding environmental impact. Conventional, human-powered bicycles consume no electricity and generate zero carbon emissions. And even more salient, an entry- or mid-level bike costs roughly a third the price of a comparable e-bike and offers lower maintenance costs. All stated program goals are satisfactorily met with conventional bicycles, yet they are given short shrift.
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This is a program blind spot. I published a letter to the editor in The Oregonian on this matter on April 12, 2026.
Why is the city intentionally and unnecessarily restricting rebates to e-bikes? Does the city think low- and moderate-income citizens are unable to ride conventional bicycles? Why miss expanding the quantity of bicycles by casting the net wider to include cost-effective conventional bikes? With the program’s three-year time horizon, it should be updated now to include bicycles without motors.
I emailed my letter to the editor to Mayor Keith Wilson, all 12 city councilors, the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS), which operates the rebate program. I quickly heard positive feedback from the offices of Mayor Wilson, Councilor Steve Novick, Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Councilor Candace Avalos, all indicating that my advocacy would receive further review.
Why is the city intentionally and unnecessarily restricting rebates to e-bikes?
– Keith Daellenbach
On Tuesday 14 April, I attended the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee’s (BAC) April 2026 meeting. During the public comment period, I again advocated for an expansion of the PCEF bicycle rebate program to include conventional bicycles and again got what I would consider to be a general positive response.
If you are interested in also advocating for an expansion of the rebate program to include conventional bicycles, please consider sharing your input directly with Mayor Wilson, all nine city councilors, PCEF, and BPS leadership. Let’s make even more progress towards achieving the lofty goals of the rebate program by expanding it to include conventional bicycles and apply the $20 million rebate money as efficiently as possible over the next three years.