Soon after the new Portland City Council took office in 2025, they passed a resolution concerning Zenith Energy, the controversial Houston-based fossil fuel company that rode into Portland in 2017. The resolution directed Mayor Keith Wilson to investigate whether Zenith had violated its franchise agreement—a legal arrangement allowing companies to access the city’s rights-of-way for fossil fuel infrastructure, communications equipment, or other utility needs. While it was clear that Zenith illegally constructed and used new piping to transport fossil fuels and renewable fuels on at least 34 occasions without notifying the city or the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality of the changes, the ensuing investigation exonerated the company.
On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Mary Stites, staff attorney with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, about the current state of Zenith’s legal tangling with the City of Portland.