Additional Rate Increases on the Horizon for Oregon Residential Customers
If Pacific Power wins the Oregon General Rate Case, its customers will see an overall 11.9% rate increase. The average rate increase for Oregon residential customers is 14.9%. According to Pacific Power’s Oregon rate proposal, the average residential customer using 950 kilowatt-hours monthly would see a $21.49 increase on their power bill. These increases are partly due to more intense and frequent extreme weather conditions. There are also additional costs due to required upgrades to infrastructure needed to mitigate risks, and significantly higher insurance costs due to increased wildfire activity and risks.
This is the third year in a row that Pacific Power has asked for double-digit rate increases. The rates increased 21% in 2023 and 11% in 2024. If this increase is approved, Pacific Power customers could be paying 63% more for electricity in 2025 than in 2022.
Pacific Power cut over 100 million from the proposed increase they filed in February. This is less than their initial request of 21.6%, which received significant pushback from the Oregon Citizen’s Utility Board (Cub). The Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB) has been advocating for better utilities for Oregon since 1984 when a ballot initiative established it.
Pacific Power President comes to Talent, Oregon
These historic increases are hard to accept, especially for some communities like Talent, which have experienced over 40 power outages this summer. At a rally in Talent this August, many residents expressed outrage and anger over the situation. Senator Jeff Golden was present and put in the request to invite Pacific Power to speak to Talent Residents.
In September, Pacific Power President Ryan Flynn came to the City of Talent to apologize to the residents for what some said had not happened while living in this community their whole lives. “We’ve installed additional fault indicators on the line, which allows us to locate faults quicker. We’ve also included additional tree trimming, and we’ve installed some animal diverter technology on our system,” Flynn explained.
Investments in Reliability
Pacific Power requested 77.7 million from its Oregon ratepayers to cover its liability through a catastrophic fire fund. Over the coming years, Pacific Power will invest 2.5 billion across its six-state network. These improvements include enhanced safety settings, which allow the utility to proactively turn off power in specific areas during a wildfire.