The Oregon Public Utility Commission will not allow PacifiCorp to increase what it charges customers by 2.8% any earlier than next March.
The utility had asked regulators to allow an interim rate increase, citing a need to improve its credit rating.
FILE — A transmission line near the PGE substation in Sherwood, Ore. on March 14, 2026.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
“[Utilities] buy really expensive equipment,” said Commission Chair Letha Tawney. “They fund about half of that purchase with debt. If their credit rating is bad, the interest rate for that borrowed money is higher.”
Earlier this month, PacifiCorp asked for a rate increase that would boost revenues by $170.7 million. This decision does not impact the pending rate case.
“The commission is really evaluating carefully, are we at a point where reliability is at risk or important upgrades are not going to get done? And that really shapes our decision,” said Tawney.
But, she said, what matters most is the utility’s ability to provide electricity to customers.
“Reliability does not seem to be at risk today,” she said. “That could change and we would revisit the decision.”
The company paid out almost $2 billion in claims to Oregonians after its equipment was found to have sparked four wildfires in 2020, and the company agreed to forego profits for five years.
Zac Ziegler is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
