Portland General Electric
Oregon-based investor-owned electric utility serving approximately 900,000 customers in the Portland metro area, the first US utility to implement a dedicated large-load rate class under the state's POWER Act.
Last refreshed: 15 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
If Oregon's PUC approves PGE's tariff on 7 July, which state copies it first?
Timeline for Portland General Electric
Oregon clears a 29% big-load surcharge
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashOregon PUC delays its data-centre tariff
Data Centres: Boom and BacklashFiled a 29% large-load rate increase and 1.3% residential rate cut under the Oregon POWER Act
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash: Oregon bills data centres, not homesBackground
Portland General Electric (PGE) became the first US utility collecting under a full-cost large-load tariff when Oregon's Public Utility Commission approved its POWER Act filing on 7 July 2026, effective 8 July. The approved tariff applies a 29% electricity-rate increase to data-centre customers drawing 20 MW or more, while cutting rates by 1.3% for its roughly 963,000 customers.
PGE is an investor-owned utility serving approximately 963,000 customers in the Portland metropolitan area, operating a generation mix that includes hydropower, natural gas, and a growing share of wind and solar. It is Oregon's largest electric utility. The POWER Act, passed in 2025, mandated this rate separation precisely because PGE's rapid influx of data-centre load was projected to raise residential bills as grid-upgrade costs spread across the full customer base.
The approved PGE tariff is now the first live proof of the POWER Act's mechanics and will be watched by regulators in at least a dozen other US states that have filed or are considering similar large-load cost-separation bills. How smoothly billing under the new rate class proceeds from 8 July will shape whether the Oregon model is adopted elsewhere.