Pacific Power Bills Increase in 2023
Posted on January 12, 2023 by Will Gehrke
Tags, Energy, General Interest
Editor’s Note: Some of the press has indicated a smaller percentage increase for residential Pacific Power customers in 2023. However, there was an error in reporting the correct price increase.
Pacific Power residential customers received a large rate increase increased on January 1st, 2023. The average residential customer will receive a rate increase of $19.45 (21%).
The impact of the bill increase varies depending on actual energy usage for residential and housing types. Although this is a large increase, CUB’s advocacy helped lower the impact on Oregon households.
Household electricity bills increased due to two rate requests from Pacific Power. The first request deals with the costs of generating power. This happens every year based on changing fuel and production costs from the previous year. The second request comes from a 2022 general rate case. These cases happen every few years.
Power Cost Updates: Fuel is More Expensive
The cost of electricity, natural gas and coal has increased power costs for Pacific Power’s customers in Oregon. Under Oregon rules, Pacific Power is allowed to update the cost of fuel for electricity generation each year.
Globally, the cost of energy has increased due to global supply interruptions from recent geopolitical conflicts. From 2022 to 2023, PacifiCorp’s cost of generating power grew from $282 million to $426 million for Oregon. The size of the 2023 power cost change is unprecedented.
General Rate Case: More Money for System Improvements
Utilities file a general rate case every few years, though the frequency varies. These are cases where utilities can request to bill customers for large expenses from previous years. These expenses can include costs like building a new power plant, other infrastructure costs, and major investments in the energy system.
The largest driver of Pacific Power’s rate increase was spending more on wildfire mitigation. This includes funding additional vegetation management and hardening the system against wildfires.
Residential customers are the largest users of the distribution and pay the bulk of distribution system costs. Other drivers of the rate increase include capital investments in the transmission (moving energy to an area), distribution (moving energy to customers), and generation (creating energy for use) systems of Pacific Power.
CUB Wins Victories, Despite Billing Rate Increases
Pacific Power originally asked for a 14% increase for residential customers. Thanks to CUB’s advocacy, the increase was limited to 8.6% for single-family homes and 6.7% for multifamily homes.
CUB won some important victories in the general rate case:
- No increase to Pacific Power’s profits
- Delaying the full bill increase until after winter heating season
- No unfair seasonal rates
People Over Profits: CUB made sure that Pacific Power did not receive an increase to its profits in rates. CUB also ensured that industrial and commercial customers did not receive a rate decrease while household bills went up.
Tempering Pricing Impacts During the Winter: CUB had major concerns that households would be unable to afford their energy bills when new rates went into effect January 1st. To temporarily mitigate customer bills, we got Pacific Power to delay some costs to April 2023. By spreading out the rate increase, families can avoid some of the bite of higher bills during this winter heating season.
Limited Increase for the Base Charge: In this case, Pacific Power requested changes to how rates were structured for residential customers. CUB negotiated a smaller customer charge increase for the base charge single family households pay each bill.
No Seasonal Rates: CUB also negotiated that PacifiCorp withdraw its proposal for seasonal rates for residential customers. We were concerned that charging different rates for winter and summer would drive up costs for many households in Southern and Eastern Oregon. Seasonal rates would have winter heating bills cheaper but would have made summer air conditioning more expensive.
Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues
CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues such as this rate increase. Sign up for the CUB email list for the latest updates, action alerts, and news on policies that affect the utilities your home relies on.
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
01/12/23 | 3 Comments | Pacific Power Bills Increase in 2023