Oregon POWER Act

The Oregon POWER Act (Prioritising Operational and Wholesale Energy Responsibility), passed in 2025, is the first US state law under which a utility has fully implemented a dedicated large-load rate class for sites drawing 20 megawatts or more, charging those sites the full cost of serving them rather than spreading grid-upgrade costs across the general residential customer base. Portland General Electric filed the first tariff under the Act on 10 June 2026, and Oregon's Public Utility Commission approved it on 7 July 2026, effective 8 July: a 29% rate increase for qualifying sites and a 1.3% household cut.

Prior to the POWER Act, the conventional US utility model socialised infrastructure costs across all customers: a new 100 MW data-centre campus triggering a substation upgrade would spread that upgrade cost over all ratepayers, effectively subsidising the operator. Oregon's law breaks that model explicitly, requiring cost causation: the party that causes the cost bears it. The 20 MW threshold was set to capture hyperscale and colocation campuses while excluding smaller commercial and industrial loads.

At least a dozen US states have filed or are considering similar cost-attribution bills in 2026. The 7 July OPUC approval is now the first national precedent for whether this approach survives regulatory scrutiny and any industry legal challenge. Its outcome will shape the legislative design of equivalent bills in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, and elsewhere.