Pacific Power

The owner of Oregon's second-largest electric company was offered up to $3.52 million to finance construction of 700 miles of transmission lines.

While Pacific Power says elevated fire risk settings are an effort to prevent wildfires, many residents are wondering why Talent has been so affected.

“It’s gonna be really difficult for customers to absorb this, particularly in the middle of winter,” said Bob Jenks with the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board.

The electric company says it’s trying to raise $304 million to pay for renewable power sources and invest in upgrades to the grid, and also to pay for costs associated with wildfires. If approved, the rate increased would go into effect in 2025.

In a filing Thursday with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, PacifiCorp asked its regulators to allow it to defer any costs related to wildfire liability through June 2024. That would allow the company the option to add those costs to customer rates in the future.

Expert witnesses say the electric utility suffered from a lack of leadership during the 2020 fires.

Pacific Power customers in Oregon will see lower rates on their electric bills next month in part because of the utility’s shift away from coal-fired power.

A power outage in downtown Portland has affected stoplights, disrupted MAX service and has left more than 2,000 customers without electricity as of Tuesday evening.