FILE - Workers access a power line near the Portland General Electric substation in Sherwood, Ore. on March 14, 2026. Pacific Power is requesting to increase residential rates by nearly 3% starting next month.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Pacific Power is requesting to increase residential rates by nearly 3% starting next month and, in a rare move, is asking regulators for immediate approval while the company makes its case for a longer-term rate increase.
The company has requested rate hikes that would amount to a total increase of 11% for electricity bills by July 2027, but Pacific Power assures regulators that through asset sales and other cost cutting, it can keep the ultimate increase for ratepayers to just 1.9% over that time.
This comes as the company is grappling with increased energy costs, paying out billions to settle wildfire lawsuits and the continued investment in renewable energy generation. It’s attempting to balance these costs while also acknowledging Oregonians are facing an affordability crisis with power bills that already went up nearly 10% last year.
If company offsets and adjustments do help decrease overall rates, residential customers will see their bills go up by an average of $3.12 more a month next summer.
“PacifiCorp does not make this request lightly and recognizes that customers continue to face broad affordability challenges and headwinds associated with economic development, housing, and education,” the company said in its filing to the Oregon Public Utility Commission on Tuesday. “Although rare, interim rates are reasonable in this case and are an important step to ensure that PacifiCorp can continue to be a partner in supporting Oregon and its citizens.”
But the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, a utility watchdog group, worries the request for the pre-approval of the 3% interim rate increase next month could set a precedent for other utilities.
Charlotte Shuff, the citizen board’s outreach and communications director, said the request is “basically a loan.”
“The last time that we can confirm that this type of request was accepted was back in the 1980s,” Shuff said. “This actually was one of the reasons that our watchdog organization was founded in the first place is because this type of interim rate, pre-approval, was being really abused by utilities through the 1970s and 1980s.”
Shuff said the last time that a utility asked for an interim rate increase was 25 years ago. It was made by Pacific Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp.
Pacific Power’s “rare” request
PacifiCorp — the parent company of Pacific Power — faces growing financial challenges. It’s working through numerous lawsuits that allege its power lines sparked wildfires in 2020 and 2022. The company has paid out more than $2.2 billion to settle those wildfire claims so far. This comes as its other spending has also climbed, including wind energy investments and insurance premiums.
Pacific Power, which serves more than 650,000 customers in Oregon, is asking for residential rates to go up 11.3% next July. The company says the interim rate increase helps split up those costs for ratepayers, making the overall increase in its proposal minimal.
“Interim rate relief will also provide PacifiCorp much-needed short-term liquidity, allowing the company to continue to support day-to-day operations and proactively advance Oregon’s policy goals during the pendency of this general rate case,” the company said.
The interim request comes as the company is facing what it described to regulators as “severe financial distress” due to a decrease in credit ratings and “constrained” access to capital. The proposal will help boost its borrowing ability, address financial needs and allow it to have some cash flow.
The proposed rate increase includes investments and upgrades to the power grid to improve resilience, maintenance, cost of power and the Willamette River Crossing Project. The project plans to replace a 2-mile long underground power line located in the Willamette River. This is part of the Portland Harbor Superfund Site cleanup efforts.
The company claims it is not seeking to recover costs associated with the litigation of the wildfire lawsuits.
Increases and decreases
The proposed 3% increase for June will be offset by a decrease, the company said, as the end of a 2022 power cost adjustment took effect at the start of the month.
The company says it will also decrease rates for residential customers by about 8% for six months in 2027 — all related to additional power cost adjustments.
Another decrease would come via the potential sales of the company’s generation and transmission assets located in Washington to Portland General Electric. Pacific Power expects the sale could close by April 2027.
But Oregon CUB’s Shuff said when companies ask to increase their customers’ rates, “they make it very clear what they are asking for.”
“What we’re seeing here is a little bit different, and frankly a little bit puzzling,” Shuff said. “Pacific Power is asking for this increase, but they’re also trying to split up the timelines, they’re trying to show that the overall impact could be a lot less than what they’re asking for. And what we’re worried about is that they’re attempting to minimize what could be a very real impact for Oregonians.”
The group is working to read through the 1,650 page rate request, Shuff said, and will ask some “pretty tough questions” on whether this should be approved.
“We’ve already seen rates increase a huge amount across the board,” Shuff said. “When we’re looking at things like this pre-approval, we have to not just think about what is happening in the next month, but what is this precedent set for other utilities, and how is that going to impact customers down the line.”
If the interim rates are not approved by the OPUC, Pacific Power’s requested rate changes will take effect in July 2027.
A decision from the commission should come before June 4.
