Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to providing cost-effective energy efficiency and new renewable energy generation for customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista. To provide these services, Energy Trust collects and manages customer information. Energy Trust takes its responsibility to protect this information very seriously.

Energy Trust considers your personally identifiable information confidential.

Follow the link to the full text of Energy Trust’s “Policy on Information Submitted by Utilities, Program Participants, Contractors and Bidders,” or the “Participant Information Policy.” This Privacy Notice is written to help you understand how Energy Trust implements its Participant Information Policy and how personal information or “Participant Information” is used in order to allow you to make informed decisions regarding sharing your information with Energy Trust to participate in and access Energy Trust programs. Except as required by law, to meet regulatory requirements or as described in this document, Energy Trust will maintain confidentiality of sensitive and personal information submitted to Energy Trust.

If you choose to participate in an Energy Trust program, Energy Trust employees, contractors and subcontractors will use Participant Information only for Energy Trust purposes. Energy Trust analyzes Participant Information and aggregates it with other information to optimize delivery of specific program offerings and to plan, evaluate and report on all Energy Trust programs. Energy Trust may share such aggregated or anonymized information for reporting analysis and to promote program offerings. This Privacy Notice addresses the following questions:

What information does Energy Trust collect?

Personal information that you provide—In order to participate with Energy Trust programs or receive incentives, you may be asked to submit personal and project information (such as name, address, phone number, email, building or project information or information about your experience with Energy Trust). If you sign up for a special offer or mailing list your contact information will be used to connect you with information about Energy Trust. If you choose to unsubscribe, your request will be honored promptly.
Correspondence you initiate with Energy Trust—If you contact Energy Trust, a record of that correspondence may be kept to help serve you better and continuously improve Energy Trust’s service to customers. Energy Trust may also retain comments or other content that you upload or post to Energy Trust’s blog or social media pages.
Information on energy usage—Pursuant to specific data sharing agreements, Energy Trust receives utility customer contact and usage data including electric and natural gas usage data for most customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.
Visitor internet traffic logs—Energy Trust collects information on visitor traffic from the www.energytrust.org website and social media channels. This information is not tied to your personal information and is used only in anonymized or aggregate form. For more details on visits to the Energy Trust website, see “Additional information about the Energy Trust website”.
Marketing email interactions—If you receive a marketing or newsletter email communication from Energy Trust, the contracted third-party email provider records and reports basic interaction activity, such as whether or not the email was received and opened and what, if any, links were clicked. This information helps Energy Trust communicate offers to the most relevant customers.

How does Energy Trust use your information?

To personalize energy-saving estimates—Based on the information you provide and/or your utility usage data, Energy Trust may customize energy-saving recommendations for you.
To improve program design and delivery—Energy Trust will use your information to design, evaluate and improve service to all utility customers. This may include contacting utility customers and conducting outreach activities to inform them of Energy Trust cash incentives and services or to get feedback on those services. Energy Trust does not and will not telemarket to customers.
To conduct aggregated energy use analysis—Energy Trust analyzes data from the utility usage data received on a monthly basis in order to report on statewide trends and improve offered services. Your individual usage data will only be used in aggregate and results will be reported such that individual customers cannot be identified.
To improve the Energy Trust website and outreach—Energy Trust collects information about usage of the Energy Trust website for system administration, to filter traffic, to look up user domains, to report on statistics and to improve offered services. This data is not tied to your personal information and is used only in aggregate form. You can limit the data that is collected by using your browser’s cookie settings. See “Additional information about the Energy Trust website” to learn more.

When does Energy Trust share your information with others?

To aid Energy Trust employees, contracted and subcontracted third parties in providing services—Energy Trust limits distribution by sharing only the necessary information to Energy Trust employees, contracted or subcontracted third parties who are required by contract to keep Participant Information confidential in the same way that Energy Trust does. Participant Information is shared securely in order to permit Energy Trust employees, contractors and subcontractors to perform their assigned duties for Energy Trust. When Energy Trust engages a contracted or subcontracted third party to provide Energy Trust services, only the necessary information is shared in order to facilitate the service. Before receiving any confidential and sensitive information from Energy Trust, including Participant Information, contractors and subcontractors must sign agreements to comply with all Energy Trust requirements for treatment of sensitive and confidential information.
To promote energy efficiency and renewable energy—In accordance with the Participant Information Policy, Energy Trust may share anonymized or aggregated (i.e., not personally identifiable) information with government agencies, researchers or other entities that request access to such information. This information may be used to leverage state, regional, national and international efforts for the advancement of energy efficiency and renewable energy through research, advocacy and policy efforts.
To share energy-efficiency and renewable energy success stories—In some scenarios, it may be beneficial for one customer to hear of another customer’s experience participating in Energy Trust programs and investing in an energy-efficiency or renewable energy project. In such instances where your experience could be beneficial for other customers to learn about, Energy Trust may request your permission to share specific personal information that is not otherwise publicly available, and your information will only be used if you agree to share it. You can deny this request, at no penalty, and silence is never considered consent.
To comply with law enforcement or legal services—Energy Trust discloses confidential information when such information is demanded through valid legal process, such as through a warrant or subpoena.
To provide information to policymakers and legislators—Consistent with the Participant Information Policy, Energy Trust may report certain information about customers participating in non-residential programs to policymakers and public agencies. In such cases Energy Trust will request that the information be treated as confidential.

How does Energy Trust protect your information?

With policies, procedures, verifications and training—Energy Trust protects your information through a Board of Directors-adopted Participant Information Policy and by ensuring that employees, contractors and subcontractors whose jobs require access to confidential information have signed confidentiality agreements before gaining access to such information. Energy Trust provides specific procedures, systems and tools to safeguard confidential and sensitive information and provides regular training to employees and contractors in governing policy and procedures, data collection, storage, use, retention and disposal of this information in order to safeguard against inappropriate use or disclosure.

Additional information about the Energy Trust website

Browser information—Your internet browser communicates standard information when you use the www.energytrust.org website, including your internet (IP) address and the files you request. This information is not tied to your personal information and is used by Energy Trust only in aggregate form, unless you choose to supply Energy Trust with additional information as part of your visit (such as filling out an online form).
Cookies—Cookies are text files that contain small amounts of information and are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website (including the Energy Trust website). Cookies are useful because they allow a site to recognize your device, let you navigate between pages efficiently, remember your preferences and more. You can find additional information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.
Using cookies—Energy Trust uses cookies to help analyze web page traffic, customize services, maintain your session and signed-in status if applicable, and measure the effectiveness of promotions.
Deleting cookies—Most cookies are “session cookies,” which are automatically deleted from your hard drive at the end of a website visit. You are always free to decline Energy Trust cookies if your browser permits, although this may interfere with your use of www.energytrust.org.
Email lists—You may unsubscribe from Energy Trust marketing communications by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link located on the bottom of each email.
Advertising—Energy Trust works with third-party digital ad networks to manage advertising on other websites. Energy Trust ad network partners use cookies and web beacons to collect non-personally identifiable information about your activities on www.energytrust.org and other websites to deliver targeted advertising.The use of cookies and web beacons by any tracking company is not covered by the Energy Trust Privacy Notice. Energy Trust does not have access or control over these third-party tracking technologies, nor does Energy Trust receive any personal data through these third-party tracking technologies.
Links to third-party websites—Energy Trust’s website, www.energytrust.org, contains links to various websites that are not owned or operated by Energy Trust. These other websites may have privacy policies that differ from Energy Trust privacy policies and procedures. Energy Trust is not responsible for their content.
Links from www.energytrust.org do not constitute an endorsement by Energy Trust. Energy Trust is not responsible for and does not control or monitor the content of those websites or the accuracy of information found therein. Energy Trust does not accept any responsibility for enabling you to link to another website or for any other website.

How can you stay informed?

By contacting Customer Support—For more information, contact Energy Trust at 1.866.368.7878 or info@energytrust.org.
Through educational materials—This Privacy Notice is an example of how Energy Trust advises you about how your information is used and with whom your information is shared in order to inform you should you have questions or concerns about providing information to Energy Trust.
By receiving notifications for revisions—This Privacy Notice was last updated in January 2016. Due to the rapid evolution of internet technology, this notice will be reviewed annually and will be updated as appropriate. The Privacy Notice posted on this web page will always be the current version. In the unlikely event that Energy Trust plans on using customers’ personal information in a manner substantially different than previously posted, customers will be notified by Energy Trust posting a notice on www.energytrust.org.