Regulators Direct PGE to Protect Oregonians from Data Centers

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Charlotte Shuff
Tags, General Interest, Energy, Data Centers

In a landmark decision this week, the Oregon Public Utility Commission directed Portland General Electric (PGE) to add guardrails to protect Oregonians’ energy bills from data centers and a new customer category to charge data centers for their energy usage.

Oregonians won big with this decision. PGE customers now have strong consumer protections in the face of data centers’ skyrocketing growth over the past few years. This includes new rules to limit data centers’ impacts on our power bills, new funding for low-income home energy efficiency and repairs, and restrictions on adding new data centers until there is enough renewable energy available.

Want to learn even more about this decision? Check out the full docket on the Commission website!

PGE is the First Utility to Roll Out the POWER Act

In 2025, the Oregon Legislature adopted the Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility (POWER) Act (HB 3546) with bipartisan support. The legislation addresses one of Oregon’s most pressing energy challenges: rising utility costs driven in part by the explosive growth of energy-intensive data centers and cryptocurrency. HB 3546 directed regulators to hold large energy users accountable for paying for their own energy costs. This was the first of its kind legislation in the U.S.

PGE was the first utility to begin implementing the POWER Act. Consumer advocates involved in this case included the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, as well as the Green Energy Institute, representing a coalition of groups, including Climate Solutions, Columbia Riverkeeper, Community Energy Project, and Oregon Environmental Council.

How Will This Decision Impact Customers?

We will know the full impacts on our energy bills in June. PGE will release the impacts on billing rates for data centers, household customers, and other businesses in early June. We are confident that by this summer, we will see data centers paying higher rates that more accurately reflect the costs they are putting on our energy grid. It is yet to be seen what effect this will have on home and business energy bills.

Regulators’ decision will have long-lasting effects, though. By moving data centers’ costs onto data centers’ power bills, Oregonians will avoid high costs down the line. We hope to see this impact reflected in a slowdown in bill increases compared to what customers have experienced over the past few years.

Limiting Data Center Impacts on Our PGE Bills

By creating a new customer category for data centers, PGE can now track the energy costs of those businesses and bill them appropriately, protecting Oregonians and small businesses. Data centers will be financially responsible for the full lifetime of new infrastructure built for their growth. The Commission rejected PGE’s proposal to only charge data centers for many costs for only 10 years. As of 2025, PGE spent $210 million on data center growth in Hillsboro alone, with many of these expenses having a 50-year lifetime.

Now, customers will have additional protections from data centers. Included are guardrails, including:

Deposits for new data centers
Contract lengths of 10 to 30 years (depending on size),
Penalties for going over the contracted electricity usage
Limits on confidentiality in contracts

PGE also must provide greater transparency in reporting, allowing regulators and advocates to understand the larger impacts of data centers on the system.

New Funding for Lowering Home Energy Bills

Data centers that use more than 100MW (more than three times the City of Ashland) will now have to pay a modest surcharge to fund energy efficiency upgrades for low-income households. CUB estimates that this new $0.01 per kWh of usage could generate around $11 million per year.

A surcharge on data center usage to fund programs for low-income customers will help lower costs for those who have been overburdened with bill increases in recent years.

“Energy Trust of Oregon identified a need to fund programs that provide energy efficiency and other resources for low-income customers. This surcharge will help to do just that, providing tangible benefits to customers who need it most.” - Cole Souder, Staff Attorney for the Green Energy Institute at Lewis & Clark Law School.

These funds will help fill a much-needed gap in existing energy efficiency upgrade programs. For too many, the option to access funds for high-efficiency appliances is limited by home electrical issues like old wiring, faulty equipment, or a lack of permitted electrical work from previous owners. Others may have high energy bills due to structural issues, like a hole in a roof, repairs not currently covered by existing energy programs.

No New Data Centers Without Enough Clean Energy

Regulators also ruled that new data centers can only be connected to PGE’s grid if there is enough emissions-free electricity available to serve them. PGE is required by law to serve all customers with 100% emissions-free electricity by 2040.

“Through strong implementation of the POWER Act, this order represents a vital step toward ensuring data centers take responsibility for their energy and affordability impacts. It protects families and small businesses from rising costs, strengthens grid resilience, and helps keep Oregon on track toward a reliable, equitable, and 100% clean energy future.” - Nora Apter, Oregon Director at Climate Solutions

New data centers must enter a queue before connecting to PGE’s electric grid. To connect, they must show that there is enough clean energy to serve them. This could encourage data centers to source their own emissions-free electricity, battery storage, or show flexibility in their energy demands.

Pacific Power is Up Next for Reining in Data Centers

Pacific Power has started its own data center investigation proceeding at the Public Utility Commission this spring. Regulators are expected to make a decision on this proceeding in November 2026.

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