Portland General Electric (PGE), Oregon’s largest electricity supplier, will increase its rate for large power consumers by 29.7%. Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reports that the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the increase, which will primarily affect large industries, data centers, and cryptocurrency mining operations. Meanwhile, costs for residential users will decline. The higher rate class, which was created last year under the state’s POWER Act, will be applied to developments that use more than 20 MW of power, which is about what a large paper mill consumes, and is way lower than the target capacity of some of the largest data centers.
“These changes ensure that costs created by data centers in PGE’s territory are more accurately reflected in their rates,” PUC Chair Letha Tawney said in a statement. “By putting this structure in place now, we are getting ahead of a bigger issue, enabling responsible data centers to pay their own way, and protecting customers from higher costs in the future.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek called this move “a win for Oregonians.” “The POWER Act was intended to ensure fairness and accountability when large energy users, like data centers, take up more load on Oregon’s electrical grid,” Kotek said. “We must continue to do whatever we can to keep working families and small businesses from absorbing the costs of data center energy use.”
