Residential customers of two of Oregon’s largest for-profit electric utilities will see their bills increase by at least 4% starting Wednesday.
Portland General Electric residential customers will see a 5% increase, which will add about $8 a month to the typical bill. Pacific Power residential customers’ rates will go up 4.1%, or about $5.64 a month, on average.
The rate hikes will help both companies cover the costs of energy and adapting to changing power needs, according to the Oregon Public Utility Commission, which regulates utilities in the state.
FILE - A power line near the Portland General Electric substation in Sherwood, Ore. on March 14, 2026.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
“Our responsibility is to ensure the lights stay on and service remains safe and reliable,” Oregon Public Utility Commissioner Chair Letha Tawney said in a statement. “As climate change places new and growing pressures on the grid, the Commission carefully evaluates utility spending that supports system hardening and long-term resilience. These adjustments help ensure utilities can maintain the service their customers depend on every day.”
Historically, rate hikes were often made at the start of November. But starting this year, companies cannot raise rates during cold winter months, when electric bills are often higher. These later-than-normal rate changes come at another difficult time, however — with increased gas prices at the pump due to the war in Iran.
For PGE customers, the increase will fund improvements to the company’s distribution system, like adding more renewable energy and substations to carry and transfer the energy and replacing cables.
The rates also reflect the “actual” cost of electricity, PGE spokesperson Drew Hanson said. The utility said its power costs have tripled over the past five years.
The PGE rate increase will also go to costs associated with the January 2024 winter storm, which caused significant damage and required extensive emergency response as well as restoration efforts across the system, Hanson said.
Nearly 400,000 customers had service interruptions during that time, he said.
Another factor is a recent law that doubled the amounts utilities collect from ratepayers for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, from $20 million per year to $40 million.
Pacific Power’s needs are similar to PGE’s, including power costs, storm-related expenses and investments in renewable energy.
Oregon’s FAIR Act
Though the increases are smaller than they have been in the past, PGE and Pacific Power customers are paying considerably more on their energy bills than they did at the start of the pandemic. Some customers are paying 50% more than in 2020. Advocates link those increases to record numbers of disconnections in the past two years, with more people unable to afford their electric bills.
But a new law came into play this year that aimed to save customers some money during winter.
Last year, lawmakers passed House Bill 3179, known as the FAIR Act, which prevents utilities from increasing rates during the winter season or from Nov. 1 through March 31. Advocates say winter months are when households use the most energy to heat their homes. That leads to higher-than-average bills.
According to utility watchdog group Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, in 2024 nearly 70,000 households were behind on their bills and disconnected by for-profit utilities.
The Fair Act will also eventually limit how often a utility can raise residential customer rates. Starting in 2027, utility rate increase requests will be allowed only every three years.
The law also requires utilities to produce annual reports detailing upcoming rate increases, explaining what rate increases will be for and analyzing the impact of increases on their customers.
“We need to know what to expect from our utility bills and know our utilities, regulators, and advocates are planning for any increases with customers at the top of mind,” Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board outreach and communications director Charlotte Shuff said.
