All articles tagged with #pge
With six days left in the legislative session, California lawmakers are balking at major elements of Gov. Newsom’s wildfire-payout package, opposing caps on survivors’ damages, reductions in insurer reimbursements, and limits on local governments’ recoveries, even as they back some provisions; Eaton Fire survivor protests underscore the political sensitivity, and if no deal is reached, the issue could be punted to the next governor.
Portland General Electric asks Oregon's Public Utility Commission for a general rate increase of 4.8% overall (effective July 1, 2027), with residential customers facing about a 3.9% average bill rise (roughly $8.33/month for 780 kWh) to fund electric grid upgrades, wildfire-risk line rebuilds, and 600,000 upgraded meters. The filing follows prior hikes since 2022 and recent 29% increases for large data centers under the POWER Act; PGE also proposes capping annual base rate hikes in 2028–2029 to inflation, with a public review process to evaluate investments.
Oregon’s Public Utility Commission unanimously approved Portland General Electric’s 29.7% rate increase for data centers and other large energy users under the POWER Act, making PGE the first utility to implement the new law that charges big users their share of electricity; residential bills will fall about 1.3% (roughly $1.91/month) as 963,000 customers are affected, and the changes include new charges, updated terms of service, and rules for connecting large users to the grid.
The Oregon Citizens Utility Board is challenging Portland General Electric's plan to allocate data center costs, arguing it unfairly burdens residential customers and contradicts the state's POWER Act, as the Oregon Public Utility Commission reviews the proposal with a decision expected by April 2026.
Oregon's largest utility, PGE, is proposing a plan to charge data centers for infrastructure costs over the first three years, potentially bypassing a new law that mandates these costs be directly assigned to data center developers, raising concerns among watchdog groups about fair cost distribution.
Portland General Electric announces that 85,000 customers may be eligible for bill discounts of up to 60% through its Income-Qualified Bill Discount program, which has been expanded from its original 25% discount. Eligibility is based on household size and income, and customers can apply online or by phone. This announcement follows customer outrage over an 18% energy bill price hike, attributed to various factors including infrastructure improvements. PGE encourages customers to reach out for assistance and explore available programs for managing energy costs.
Portland General Electric's progress in restoring power to thousands of homes in the metro area was hindered by freezing rain and falling trees, causing new outages and leaving more than 57,000 customers without power as of Friday morning. Some customers have been without power for days, and the outages are expected to continue as winds and freezing rain wreak havoc on power lines in the Portland area.
Portland General Electric is dealing with nearly 3,000 outages affecting over 55,000 customers following a wave of freezing rain in the Portland area. With about 1,700 workers striving to restore power, many affected areas have no estimated repair time as of Friday morning. PGE has been actively reaching out to those without power the longest to ensure their safety.
About 77,000 households in the Portland area are without power as a result of recent storms, with Portland General Electric cautioning that more poor weather could lead to additional outages. Despite efforts to restore power, the number of households without electricity has barely changed over the past 12 hours, and with strong winds forecast for Monday and the potential for freezing rain and sleet on Tuesday, PGE anticipates that restoration efforts will continue through the week. Additionally, some 8,000 Pacific Power customers outside the metro area are also without electricity.
PGE is urging customers to conserve power as extreme heat strains the grid, warning that the high demand could lead to potential power outages.