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: 10 June 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will Oregon's model of billing data centres separately stop other states raising household energy bills?
Timeline for Portland General Electric
Filed 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 homes- What is Portland General Electric's new data centre rate?
- PGE filed a tariff on 10 June 2026 setting a 29% rate increase for sites drawing 20 MW or more under Oregon's POWER Act, while cutting household rates by 1.3%.Source: PGE OPUC tariff filing
- Why are Oregon data centres paying more for electricity than homeowners?
- Oregon's POWER Act (2025) requires utilities to charge large loads the full cost of serving them, preventing data centres from shifting grid-upgrade costs onto residential bills.Source: Oregon POWER Act / PGE filing
- Which US states are copying Oregon's data centre electricity billing law?
- At least 12 US states have filed active moratorium or cost-attribution bills targeting data centres in 2026, though Oregon is the first to have a utility implement a full-cost rate class.Source: Lowdown data-centres topic
- How large is Portland General Electric as a utility?
- PGE serves approximately 900,000 customers in the Portland metropolitan area, making it Oregon's largest electric utility.Source: PGE corporate data
Background
Portland General Electric (PGE) became the first US utility to implement Oregon's POWER Act cost-attribution mandate on 10 June 2026, filing a tariff that creates a dedicated large-load rate class for sites drawing 20 MW or more. The result: a 29% electricity-rate increase for qualifying data centres, while household and small-business customers receive a 1.3% cut. The filing is before the Oregon Public Utility Commission for approval.
PGE is an investor-owned utility serving approximately 900,000 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 PGE tariff is the first live test 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. A successful OPUC approval would give other utilities a regulatory template; a rejection or modification could blunt the national momentum behind the cost-attribution model.