Extreme Heat Disconnection Protections

Each summer, heatwaves threaten the health and safety of our communities. Being disconnected from power during or before a heatwave can be particularly dangerous for people with medical conditions, seniors, and children. For families already struggling to keep the lights on, shutoffs from past-due bills can also have a cascading impact.

Thankfully, Oregonians are protected from disconnection for past-due bills during certain extreme heat events. These protections are designed to keep Oregonians connected to life-saving cooling devices during heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

Extreme Summer Weather: Disconnection Limits & Added Protections

Losing access to heating, cooling, and other essential services during extreme weather can be life-threatening. Now, customers of Oregon’s for-profit utilities have stronger permanent protections.

Protections: Disconnections for non-payment are limited during extreme heat and very poor air quality events.

Learn More: CUB Blog - Extreme Summer Weather Disconnection Protections

You Need to Call Your Utility to Regain Service in Extreme Weather

Extreme weather protections are available for all customers. If you have been disconnected because of past-due bills ahead of an extreme weather event, you must call your utility company to get gas or power restored during the protected times. Utilities will not reconnect you automatically. Income-qualified customers and medical certificate customers are not required to pay up-front costs to reconnect in these instances.

Hot Weather Protections

Year-Round Heat Protections
Hot-weather protections apply when an extreme heat warning, extreme heat watch, or heat advisory is issued, regardless of the time of year. These protections only apply to electric utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power).

All Electric Residential Customers:

• No disconnections 24 hours before a hot weather event, during the event, and 48 hours after.

Electric Bill Discount Program Participants & Medical Certificate Holders:

• No disconnections 24 hours before a winter weather event, during the event, and 48 hours after.
• No upfront costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

We need to keep each other safe and informed during extreme summer weather. Share these protections with your community to stay safe!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

2026 Conference - What the Tech?!: Emerging Solutions for Energy Efficiency, Big and Small

At CUB’s annual conference on October 2nd, we’re keeping it local. Harnessing Local Energy brings together leading experts in the Pacific Northwest to find local solutions to the global challenges facing the energy sector. We’ll discuss some of the technologies helping us solve these issues in our second afternoon breakout panel, What the Tech?!: Emerging Solutions for Energy Efficiency, Big and Small.

Register today for the 2026 CUB Energy Policy Conference and save! Early Bird registration closes at 5:00 pm on September 18.

Register Today

2026 Conference Theme: Harnessing Local Energy

Finding Local Solutions to (Inter)National Energy Challenges
In just the last few years, Oregon’s energy landscape has seen many big, new challenges. We’ve seen hyperscaled energy demand from data centers, cuts to federal support for customers and utilities, large rate increases, and record household disconnections. With all of these hurdles, attention is increasingly turning to what we can do close to home to address both our energy needs and the human impacts of our industry.

In a world with increasingly globalized energy, we need to start to think more locally for solutions.

Panel 2B—What the Tech?!: Emerging Solutions for Energy Efficiency, Big and Small

Oregonians have new technologies available to reduce energy use and emissions that enable them to be good grid citizens. Promising tech such as balcony solar, residential battery storage systems, and window heat pumps may be excellent tools, but understanding how to effectively use them can be daunting. In homes and at scale, new tech in demand response and energy efficiency can have big impacts. We invite experts on this panel to discuss the larger policy implications and the practical use of new tech.

How can we sort through what is promising and what is over-promising in new technology? What are the tools that industry leaders are excited about that are currently available? What do we need to adapt in our energy policy to ensure these tools are accessible and affordable for Oregon? How do we go from pilot programs to widespread rollouts for new tech?

Moderator: Ryan Tran, Economist, Oregon CUB

About the Conference

The CUB Energy Policy Conference is designed as a day of discussion, networking, and sharing diverse perspectives. This conference is ideal for community groups, regulators, advocates, utility representatives, attorneys, or those interested in our region’s energy industry.

16th Annual CUB Energy Policy Conference

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sentinel Hotel
614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205

Conference Website

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Wildfire Mitigation Plans: Protecting Customers from Wildfire Risk

With Oregon’s wildfire season continuing to break records year after year, planning for wildfires is everyone’s responsibility, but especially our utilities. Thanks to legislation passed in 2021, Oregon’s electric utilities are required to file wildfire mitigation plans. These plans aim to lower the risk of wildfires caused by electric utilities. Wildfire mitigation plans improve customers’ safety during wildfire season and beyond.

These plans are meant to show how electric utilities intend to address wildfire risk in their service areas. These plans must identify high-risk areas and show how utilities’ policies and investment plans will reduce wildfire risk. Utilities are required to collaborate with local communities in the planning process.

Wildfire Mitigation Plans (WMPs)

In 2021, Oregon passed Senate Bill 762, a law requiring utilities to create comprehensive plans to lower wildfire risk in Oregon. This law applies to the state’s three for-profit electric utilities: Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power. It tasks regulators at the Public Utility Commission with ensuring that utilities create holistic, cost-effective plans.

Why are Wildfire Mitigation Plans Important?

As Oregon’s wildfire seasons continue to worsen, we need these plans to keep our communities safe. In 2020, the Labor Day fires swept through Oregon, leaving over a million acres burned west of the Cascades. These fires impacted thousands of households, destroyed homes, and upended lives. In court, Pacific Power was deemed responsible for the four wildfires due to gross negligence. Utilities’ risk of causing wildfires is why these plans are necessary.

These plans show the strategies utilities will use to prevent wildfires in our state. This should include informing customers of planned and potential outages, called Public Safety Power Shutoffs. The goal of these plans is to minimize the risk of utility-caused wildfires. And most importantly—protecting Oregonians from life-threatening wildfires.

Managing Utility-Caused Wildfire Risk

Utilities’ plans are required to identify wildfire risks where they deliver electricity. Utilities also have to show risks around where they are moving electricity across distances (e.g., power lines). Through their analyses, utilities must include a description of what they are doing to reduce this risk.

Wildfire mitigation strategies include:

• Vegetation management (tree trimming, removal, etc.)
• System hardening (insulating wires, sensors for downed lines, etc.)
• Investment decisions (new line locations, power plant locations, etc.)
• Operational decisions (when to shut off power based on weather, etc.)

In addition to analysis and system plans, utilities must also plan for community engagement strategies. This includes their plans to work with local fire departments, local governments, and other public safety partners.

This year, regulators directed utilities to expand community-focused wildfire safety efforts. This change came at the recommendation of CUB and other energy advocates. This includes providing more home hardening and defensible space strategies. Utilities should also now provide communities with preparedness materials, fire location, and awareness tools at local events.

Multi-Year Planning: Updating the Planning Process

Previously, these plans had to be filed by December 31 of each year for the next year. Regulators then had six months to review the plans and provide recommended changes to utilities. That meant that a plan filed at the end of 2023 for 2024 wasn’t evaluated until after it had already been implemented. This system wasn’t working.

In 2025, Oregon moved from a one-year to a three-year planning process. After being filed, regulators now have six months to analyze the plans and make recommendations. An independent evaluator, who is a utility wildfire mitigation expert, also provides feedback on whether the utility has met state requirements. At the end of the review, regulators either approve the plans as is or with recommendations. These plans will be in place for the next three years.

Where They’re At Now: Wildfire Plans

On December 31, 2025, Oregon’s electric utilities filed plans with state regulators for 2026, 2027, and 2028. After being reviewed, all the plans were approved with conditions.

This year, regulators directed the utilities to provide more information on their data, analysis methods, and measurable results. This information shows the effectiveness of utilities’ wildfire mitigation strategies to inform their next multi-year plan.

The utilities will be coming back to update regulators on where they are in implementing their current plans in 2027. CUB expects utilities to address regulators’ recommendations in their updates.

Advocating for Customers: CUB’s Role in Wildfire Mitigation

Throughout the wildfire mitigation plan review process, our staff advocates for customers’ interests by prioritizing cost-effective best practices. We also work closely with fellow energy advocates to demystify this complex process and explain plans. Regulators are working to make this process more transparent for community groups and the public.

Costs from wildfire mitigation plans can be passed on to customers.

Because customers ultimately foot the bill for wildfire mitigation, these plans must be evaluated to ensure they’re the lowest-cost option. Independent evaluators have consistently found that our electric utilities are not meeting the requirements.

At CUB, we believe investments in wildfire protections are important, but they also must be smart. While utilities are allowed to pass wildfire mitigation costs to customers, they can’t be given a blank check. Our staff consistently advocates for the least-cost strategies and holds utilities accountable for providing hard data to back up their plans.

CUB will continue to advocate for Oregon households and ensure we are only paying for necessary costs that protect our communities, not utility cash grabs.

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Disconnection Protections for Wildfire Season

Sadly, this year’s wildfire season is on track to be the worst in Oregon’s history. With millions of acres burned, we all must know our protections to stay connected to life-saving power around an emergency. State regulators have adopted these protections to keep more Oregonians safe during wildfire season.

The reality is that utilities are not always able to keep the lights on during a wildfire. Public safety power shutoffs are a key tool for preventing utility-caused wildfires. But when it is safe to keep power flowing during and after a wildfire emergency, customers have protections from a disconnection for non-payment.

These protections keep our communities safe and healthy in our homes, specific to times surrounding evacuation notices and poor air quality events.

Protections: Disconnections for non-payment are limited during extreme heat and very poor air quality events.

You Need to Call Your Utility to Regain Service in Extreme Weather

Extreme weather protections are available for all customers. If you have been disconnected because of past-due bills ahead of an extreme weather event, you must call your utility company to get gas or power restored during the protected times. Utilities will not reconnect you automatically. Income-qualified customers and medical certificate customers are not required to pay up-front costs to reconnect in these instances.

Wildfire Evacuation Protections

Wildfire protections apply during Level 2 and Level 3 evacuation notices issued in a customer’s area. These protections only apply to all for-profit utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Cascade, and Avista).

All Residential Customers:

• No disconnections for 48 hours after wildfire evacuation notices have been lifted.
• No up-front costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

Protecting Against Wildfires: Public Safety Power Shutoffs

During periods of high wildfire risk, utilities may shut off power to lower the risk of creating or worsening a fire. Shutting off power during fire season is itself a public hazard, which is why Oregon’s electric utilities use this option only as a last resort. Shutoffs can interrupt cell phone service, delay emergency response, and endanger the health of residents. These kinds of outages are particularly hazardous when they coincide with extreme heat waves.

Not all Oregonians are subject to these preventative outages. Only customers in certain high-risk zones will see public safety shutoffs.

The best way to prepare for a public safety power shutoff is to stay informed ahead of time. Customers can sign up to receive alerts from their utility when a power shutoff is coming.

Portland General Electric:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the PGE app for up-to-date alerts.

Pacific Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Pacific Power app for up-to-date alerts.

Idaho Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Idaho Power app to receive real-time alerts.

For more in-depth information on wildfire emergencies and alerts, download the FEMA mobile app to receive details on large-scale wildfires. During an emergency declaration, FEMA updates its app to ensure people have access to up-to-date evacuation information.

We need to keep each other safe and informed during wildfire season. Share these protections with your community to stay safe!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Staying Connected to Power During Poor Air Quality Events

During fire season, harmful smoke from wildfires can have dangerous impacts on Oregonians’ health. To stay safe, it’s critical that households stay connected to power and keep air filters running. No one should lose power due to nonpayment during poor air quality days.

Thankfully, permanent rules adopted by state regulators ensure Oregonians have better disconnection protections during poor air quality events. These protections are designed to keep more households connected to power, ensuring Oregonians can safely stay inside and access necessary air filter devices during hot, smoky weather.

Extreme Summer Weather: Disconnection Limits & Added Protections

Losing access to heating, cooling, and more in extreme weather can be life-threatening. Now, customers of Oregon’s for-profit utilities have stronger permanent protections.

Protections: Disconnections for non-payment are limited during extreme heat and very poor air quality events.

You Need to Call Your Utility to Regain Service in Extreme Weather

Extreme weather protections are available for all customers. If you have been disconnected because of past-due bills ahead of an extreme weather event, you must call your utility company to get gas or power restored during the protected times. Utilities will not reconnect you automatically. Income-qualified customers and medical certificate customers are not required to pay up-front costs to reconnect in these instances.

Air Quality Protections

Year-Round Protections
Air quality protections apply when the Air Quality Index (AQI) is forecasted to be at or above 100, no matter the time of year. These protections only apply to all for-profit utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Cascade, and Avista).

All Residential Customers:

• No disconnections during the air quality event and 48 hours after.

Bill Discount Program Participants & Medical Certificate Holders:

• No disconnections during the air quality event and 48 hours after.
• No up-front costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

Help us keep each other safe and informed during extreme summer weather. Share these disconnection protections with your community!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

2026 Conference - Local Takes the Lead: The Future of Gas in Oregon

CUB’s 16th annual Energy Policy Conference, Harnessing Local Energy, is all about keeping it local. This year, we’re bringing together some of the greatest minds in the Pacific Northwest to find local solutions to the global challenges of the energy sector. We’ll dive headfirst into this challenge during the first afternoon breakout panel, Local Takes the Lead: The Future of Gas in Oregon.

Register today for the 2026 CUB Energy Policy Conference and save! Early Bird registration closes at 5:00 pm on September 18.

Register Today

2026 Conference Theme: Harnessing Local Energy

Finding Local Solutions to (Inter)National Energy Challenges
In just the last few years, Oregon’s energy landscape has seen many big, new challenges. We’ve seen hyperscaled energy demand from data centers, cuts to federal support for customers and utilities, large rate increases, and record household disconnections. With all of these hurdles, attention is increasingly turning to what we can do close to home to address both our energy needs and the human impacts of our industry.

In a world with increasingly globalized energy, we need to start to think more locally for solutions.

Panel 2A—Local Takes the Lead: The Future of Gas in Oregon

Oregonians across the state are pushing their community leaders and utilities to invest in policies that focus on moving us away from fossil fuels. Natural gas utilities may have fewer tools available to achieve this goal, regardless of the future of the Climate Protection Program.  But across the state, gas utilities, local governments, and community organizations are pursuing getting creative in transitioning customers away from gas appliances. And different approaches will be needed to meet the needs of local communities. In this panel, attendees will hear diverse perspectives on balancing climate imperatives with operational realities.

What is on the horizon for electrification for gas customers? How are local community leaders working to make appliances in our homes and businesses more efficient? What lessons can we learn from local efforts to decarbonize the gas system in their communities? And what is the role of gas in a decarbonizing energy system?

Moderator: Emily Dougan, Utility Analyst, Oregon CUB

About the Conference

The CUB Energy Policy Conference is designed as a day of discussion, networking, and sharing diverse perspectives. This conference is ideal for community groups, regulators, advocates, utility representatives, attorneys, or those interested in our region’s energy industry.

16th Annual CUB Energy Policy Conference

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sentinel Hotel
614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205

Conference Website

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Agreement Reached for Cascade 2026 Rate Increase

After months of analysis, questions, and negotiations, all parties have come to an agreement with Cascade on the gas utility’s request to raise customers’ bills. Starting in October, Cascade households are set to see a 12.3% rate increase, down from the initial ask of 17.4%. The agreement is expected to be approved by state regulators in October.

An average household can expect to pay about $133 on a peak winter bill next January (a $14 increase). While this is a big change for customers, Cascade still has the lowest gas billing rates in Oregon.

Big Wins for Customers: In addition to significantly reducing the total increase, CUB helped secure big wins for customers. This includes rejecting large profit margin increases, removing expensive renewable natural gas costs, and phasing out a customer-funded subsidy to add new buildings to the gas system.

Large Rate Hikes Are On Their Way Out

One big reason Cascade’s increase is so high is that the utility has been quietly accumulating costs since it last raised rates in 2020. While rates have gone up some in recent years because of the rising cost of methane (natural gas’s main component), the costs of big projects and investments have been piling up. We saw a similar issue with Idaho Power in 2025, with the utility waiting ten years before requesting a 27% increase.

But these large, surprise increases could soon be a thing of the past. With the new FAIR Energy Act rolling out next year, utilities will now be required to create five-year spending plans, meet community-supportive metrics, and stick to a budget. This new customer-centered process will help to prevent big increases and help Oregonians know what to expect on their gas and electric bills.

Read More: Regulators Adopt Phase 1 FAIR Energy Act Proposal (CUB Blog)

Wins for Cascade Customers

Overall, this agreement includes some big wins for customers. Advocates were able to cut the increase by nearly 30%, from $16.4 million to $12 million.

Cuts to the initial request include:

• Rejecting big profit margin increases
• Removing expensive renewable natural gas costs
• Phasing out a customer-funded subsidy to add new buildings to the gas system

New Program: Customers will also now have access to a pilot program to fund heat pumps in homes, without having to stay on the gas system.

Reducing Profit Margins

The agreement has rejected Cascade’s request to increase profit margins by millions of dollars each year at the cost of customers. Now, the utility is only allowed a very modest increase in allowable profits to 9.5% (was 9.4%). The new limit is in line with other gas utilities in the state.

As a regulated utility, Cascade’s profit margin is set by the Oregon Public Utility Commission.  This is not a guarantee for profit, but rather a way to ensure customers are not being overcharged to benefit shareholders.

Cutting Expensive Renewable Gas Costs

This year, CUB pushed back to ensure household gas customers are not being overcharged for expensive renewable natural gas projects. And we were successful in cutting new charges for renewable natural gas! This win was largely due to the hard work of advocates at the Green Energy Institute, which CUB supported.

And this win against expensive gas alternatives will last for years. The agreement rejected Cascade’s request to allow it to invest in renewable natural gas projects and add costs to customer bills with very little oversight. Cascade was taking a page from NW Natural’s request just a few years ago, where CUB was also able to secure strong customer protections.

We can expect to see Cascade coming back next year with new asks to charge customers for renewable gas. But the agreement made it clear that there are limits on what the gas utility can ask for, thanks to advocate pushback.

Phasing Out the Growth Subsidy

Major Victory: Cascade is set to be the final gas utility to phase out the customer-funded growth subsidy for household customers in Oregon.

The agreement rejected Cascade’s request to expand its customer-funded subsidy to grow the gas system. Existing customers pay for expanding Cascade’s business through a subsidy called a “line extension allowance.” This subsidy benefits building developers, encouraging new homes to be built with gas.

Now, Cascade must phase out its growth subsidy for households by 2028. The cost it can charge existing households to add a new home will drop to $1,750 this October, down to $678 in October 2027, and finally $0 in October 2028.

The agreement also phases out this subsidy for small commercial and small industrial customers, too. Now, only large industrial and large volume customers will have access to the subsidy, which will now be tracked to these customers alone with new limits for overruns. Households and small businesses have strong protections against these costs to expand the gas system land on their bills.

Cascade was the last remaining Oregon gas utility charging customers an expansion subsidy. Over the past few years, regulators at the Oregon Public Utility Commission have ended similar policies for NW Natural and Avista. Regulators agreed with CUB that these policies are not in the best interest of customers. These subsidies also undermine climate policies in Oregon communities, such as Bend and Ashland, that discourage new homes from being connected to the gas system.

New Heat Pump Pilot

Cascade customers will soon have access to a new program to help offset the cost of heat pumps in their homes. The new pilot program will provide up to $1,500 per customer to get this high-efficiency heating and cooling.

This new pilot comes on the heels of a similar program CUB helped win for Avista customers, the gas utility serving parts of Southern and Eastern Oregon. Soon, Avista will pilot a program to offer incentives to switch homes to all-electric appliances and leave the gas system, instead of paying for expensive pipe replacements. Avista will also ensure that low-income customers are included in this pilot, which may help many receive necessary home upgrades and benefits.

Both of these pilot programs will help save household money, provide high-efficiency cooling, and help the gas utilities meet requirements to reduce emissions. A win all around!

Cascade Needs to Be Realistic on the Climate Protection Program

Under Oregon’s Climate Protection Program, gas utilities are now required to reduce emissions by 90% by 2050. While there are many ways for utilities to achieve this mandate, renewable natural gas is a favorite option because of its profitability. Cascade had multiple big investments it wants to charge customers for, as well as a proposal to make these charges automatic going forward.

Cascade also attempted to argue that expanding its growth subsidy at the expense of customers was beneficial to meeting Climate Protection Program rules. But adding more customers adds more emissions, which is the opposite of what Cascade needs to do under state requirements.

CUB, other advocates, and analysts at the Oregon Public Utility Commission were able to successfully call out Cascade’s unrealistic and expensive arguments. But we can expect to see more of these confusing and unrealistic plans in the name of the Climate Protection Program from gas utilities going forward. After all, these are the same utilities that have sued the state twice in an attempt to end the emissions reduction program!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

CUB’s Grid Infrastructure Bike Tour

At the end of July, CUB hosted its first-ever Grid Infrastructure Bike Tour! Ten community members came out on this sunny summer day to learn about Portland’s electrical grid and how Oregonians can take action to combat energy bill rate increases.

Stop 1: Generation

We started the tour at Chapman Square, near the SW waterfront, for introductions and a discussion on generation. Generation is the act of creating electrical energy from a resource, such as fossil fuels, like coal or natural gas, or a renewable source, like solar or wind.

We chose Chapman Square as our first stop because it’s the endpoint of the first long-distance transmission line in North America, connecting Willamette Falls to Portland. Willamette Falls was Oregon’s first electric generating dam.

We discussed Oregon’s generation makeup, what our state’s energy generation has looked like, what it’s transitioning to, and where we would like go to have a green transition over the coming years.

According to the Oregon Department of Energy, as of 2024, Oregon’s energy mix comes from:

• Hydro - 33.91%
• Natural Gas - 20.41%
• Wind - 7.85%
• Coal - 8.29%
• Solar - 3.90%

Do you have a preferred form of generation? If so, share in the comments what you prefer and what you would like to see more of in Oregon!

Stop 2: Transmission

Transmission is the physical transportation of the energy produced at a generation site to local areas where it will be used. This energy can travel hundreds of miles before entering your home to power your devices, keep your home warm, and light up our city.

Electricity travels on high-voltage transmission lines that span the state and bind our grid together, making it possible for us to go about our days without questioning if the lights will turn on when we flip a switch.

Transmission doesn’t always have to span hundreds of miles to make it to you and other customers. On this tour, we stopped in front of the Oregon Convention Center, which houses about six thousand solar panels on its roof! This generation is right in the heart of the city. According to the Energy Trust, they have a 2MW capacity and provide about 25% of the convention center’s energy needs. However, these panels only provide power for the convention center itself.

There is, however, a community solar park out near the Cully neighborhood that also provides generation within city limits. This project provides energy credits for 150 low-income Cully families, and makes renewables accessible to demographics that may not be able to access rooftop solar. 

Read More: When a Solar Panel is More Than a Solar Panel (CUB Blog)

Stop 3: Distribution

Community members gathered across from the Knott Substation owned by Pacific Power. We gathered to hear Joe D’Ambrosia explain what a substation is and does for our grid.

The final stretch of our group ride took us up NE 7th to Matt Dishman Community Center and the Knott Substation. Along the way, we could see the web of distribution cables that connected all the homes in the Irvington neighborhood to our grid.

Did you know one of the largest chunks of your bills is actually made up of distribution costs? All of this statewide infrastructure is necessary to keep our homes connected to the grid. Compare this to large industries or commercial businesses that are a little more concentrated and easier to connect to the grid. This is why residential rates for distribution are larger than other customers.

While in front of the Knott substation, community member and Electrical Engineer, Joe D’ Ambrosia, joined us to explain what a substation is and does. In short, substations are the bits of infrastructure that take all the high-voltage electricity sent over from generating sites and convert it, or “step it down,” to lower voltages that then will be distributed to our homes, businesses, or other needs depending on the type of substation being used.

Last Stop: Public Comment Workshop

The final stop on the bike tour was the PacifiCorp headquarters in the Lloyd district. Here, we talked about the ongoing request from Pacific Power to increase customers’ bills. In this public comment workshop, we went through the details about the request and how community members can get involved.

Read More: Pacific Power Requests 11.3% Residential Increase (CUB Blog)

There was a lot of discussion on the projected sale of Pacific Power’s Washington state territories to PGE, and the addition of Washington coal generation costs onto Oregonian bills. Community members were also interested in learning about the recent years of rate increases and how they impact Oregonians throughout the state.

In 2025, Oregon saw its second record-breaking year for disconnections. Oregonians are maxed out on what they can afford for energy. Pacific Power has already raised rates by more than 50% between 2021 and 2025, and now they’re asking for an additional 11%.

Look Out for More Bike Tours From CUB

Feedback from participants was positive, so CUB looks forward to hosting another bike tour in the future. If you’re interested in getting involved with CUB, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on our socials to keep up with the latest on what we’re up to!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Extreme Summer Weather Disconnection Protections

Fire, smoke, and heatwaves have sadly become a normal part of Oregon’s summers. Thankfully, permanent rules adopted by state regulators ensure Oregonians have greater consumer protections around disconnection during extreme weather events. These protections are designed to keep more households connected to power, ensuring Oregonians can access life-saving cooling devices during hot, smoky weather.

Extreme Summer Weather: Disconnection Limits & Added Protections

Losing access to heating, cooling, and more in extreme weather can be life-threatening. Now, customers of Oregon’s for-profit utilities have stronger permanent protections.

Protections: Disconnections for non-payment are limited during extreme heat and very poor air quality events.

You Need to Call Your Utility to Regain Service in Extreme Weather

Extreme weather protections are available for all customers. If you have been disconnected because of past-due bills ahead of an extreme weather event, you must call your utility company to get gas or power restored during the protected times. Utilities will not reconnect you automatically. Income-qualified customers and medical certificate customers are not required to pay up-front costs to reconnect in these instances.

Hot Weather Protections

Year-Round Heat Protections
Hot-weather protections apply when there is an extreme heat warning, extreme heat watch, or heat advisory issued, no matter the time of year. These protections only apply to electric utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power).

All Electric Residential Customers:

• No disconnections 24 hours before a hot weather event, during the event, and 48 hours after.

Electric Bill Discount Program Participants & Medical Certificate Holders:

• No disconnections 24 hours before a winter weather event, during the event, and 48 hours after.
• No upfront costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

Air Quality Protections

Year-Round Protections
Air quality protections apply when the Air Quality Index (AQI) is forecasted to be at or above 100, no matter the time of year. These protections only apply to all for-profit utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Cascade, and Avista).

All Residential Customers:

• No disconnections during the air quality event and 48 hours after.

Bill Discount Program Participants & Medical Certificate Holders:

• No disconnections during the air quality event and 48 hours after.
• No up-front costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

Wildfire Evacuation Protections

Wildfire protections apply during Level 2 and Level 3 evacuation notices issued in a customer’s area. These protections only apply to all for-profit utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Cascade, and Avista).

All Residential Customers:

• No disconnections for 48 hours after wildfire evacuation notices have been lifted.
• No up-front costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.

Protecting Against Wildfires: Public Safety Power Shutoffs

During periods of high wildfire risk, utilities may shut off power to mitigate the risk of a fire. Shutting off power during fire season is itself a public hazard, which is why Oregon’s electric utilities use this option only as a last resort. Shutoffs can interrupt cell phone service, delay emergency response, and endanger the health of residents. These kinds of outages are particularly hazardous when they coincide with extreme heat waves.

Not all Oregonians are subject to these preventative outages. Only customers in certain high-risk zones will see public safety shutoffs.

The best way to prepare for a public safety shutoff is to stay informed ahead of time. Customers can sign up to receive alerts from their utility when a power shutoff is coming.

Portland General Electric:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the PGE app for up-to-date alerts.

Pacific Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Pacific Power app for up-to-date alerts.

Idaho Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Idaho Power app to receive real-time alerts.

For more in-depth information on wildfire emergencies and alerts, download the FEMA mobile app to receive details on large-scale wildfires. During an emergency declaration, FEMA updates its app to ensure people have access to up-to-date evacuation information.

We need to keep each other safe and informed during extreme summer weather. Share these protections with your community to stay safe!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Regulators Adopt Phase 1 FAIR Energy Act Proposal

Last year, CUB secured a monumental victory for customers: we passed the FAIR Energy Act (HB 3179)! The 2025 law aims to rein in back-to-back energy bill rate hikes, addressing one of the root causes of Oregon’s energy affordability crisis. Now, Oregon’s state regulators are implementing the new law, and customers just scored another big win!

Regulators were considering a proposal to require all for-profit utilities to create five-year spending plans, meet community-supportive metrics, and stick to a budget. Utilities wanted to maintain the status quo, but regulators pushed back. CUB and energy advocates supported the changes. We’re excited to announce that regulators adopted these new customer protections!

Want even more details? See the full docket! Docket AR 676 is available on the Public Utility Commission website.

Phase 1 Complete: Spreading Out Increases

To implement the FAIR Energy Act, regulators are in the process of developing specific rules for spreading out utility rate increase requests over multiple years by the end of 2027. The goal of this process is to limit how often utilities can raise customers’ energy bills, protecting customers from frequent large increases. It’s beyond time that customers are centered in utility decision-making!

In early July, regulators adopted a proposal that would require all for-profit utilities to create five-year spending plans, stick to a budget, and meet community-supportive metrics. This brings to a close the first phase of turning law into reality.

Big Wins:

• Five-Year Plans: Utilities must create five-year plans for spending, investments, and more
• Stick to a Budget: Utilities have limits on how much money can be added to customers’ bills over the length of their five-year plans.
• Community Benefit Metrics: Utilities will have performance standard requirements on disconnections, maintaining their system, and (for electric utilities) community-based clean energy.

With the new rules, regulators will be able to better control when and how often rate increases happen. Previously, utilities would choose when to ask regulators to change billing rates, and regulators had to respond. The longer process not only protects customers from frequent large increases but also allows regulators and advocates to dig deeper into what utilities are asking for in their requests, improving administrative efficiency.

Read More: CUB Supports Spreading Out Energy Bill Increases (CUB Blog)

Big Win: Five-Year Plans

Adopted: Utilities must create five-year plans for spending, investments, and more.

Without concrete plans for rate increases, Oregonians’ energy bills have increased by nearly 50% over the last five years. By requiring utilities to create five-year plans for spending, investments, and more, utilities won’t be able to keep requesting endless increases. The multi-year spending plans will help ensure utilities better control their costs, protecting your home energy bills.

While the proposal has been adopted, this policy will not take effect until each utility files its first spending plan, starting in 2027. This will go through 2029, with only one electric and one gas utility filing each year.

Going forward, utilities will be held accountable for controlling their own costs. Creating a standard expectation of what will go into these plans helps regulators, advocates, and customers know what to expect in the near future. The finer details of this will be determined in Phase 2, which begins at the end of this month.

Big Win: Utilities Required to Stick to a Budget

Adopted: Utilities have limits on how much money can be added to customers’ bills over the length of their five-year plans.

We are all tied to a budget, and our utilities should be, too. After five years of near-constant increases in our energy bills, Oregonians are feeling the pinch. Disconnections are at an all-time high, leaving many households to make impossible choices. We’re all living in a reality where we need to be careful with what we spend–so why aren’t our utilities more budget-conscious?

The short answer is profit. Utilities are allowed to recover the costs of capital investments from customers by increasing energy billing rates. Meaning they’re incentivized to keep spending on big projects, regardless of how that drives up energy costs for customers over time.

PGE has been a major offender in allowing costs to balloon without much accountability. In 2020, PGE set a capital spending target for 2024 at $500 million. By February of 2023, it had grown by almost 50% to $730 million. But its growth kept accelerating, to $1.34 billion in April of 2024 - a 268% increase from the original spending target in just four years.

One major goal of the FAIR Energy Act is to get utility increases under control by changing utilities’ incentives to spend, slowing the rise of energy bills. By limiting how much money can be added to customers’ bills over the length of their five-year plans, utilities won’t be able to keep requesting endless increases, creating more predictability for regulators and customers alike.

Big Win: Utilities Required to Meet Community Benefit Metrics

Adopted: Utilities will have performance standard requirements on disconnections, maintaining their system, and (for electric utilities) community-based clean energy.

Oregon’s for-profit electric utilities need some encouragement to make choices that reflect Oregonians’ values. In addition to the FAIR Energy Act, state legislators also passed Performance-Based Regulation (SB 688) in 2025. With this new framework, a portion of utilities’ profits would be tied to what Oregonians value most. These priorities can be related to affordability for customers, reducing emissions, meeting safety standards, and other goals.

Now that utilities will be required to meet community benefit metrics, Oregonians’ needs will be more adequately met by utilities. The legislature directed regulators to require utilities to go further than the company’s necessities: reliability, safety, and customer service.

Now, they will be required to meet performance standards to:

• reduce household disconnections
• make the most of our existing infrastructure to limit unnecessary investments, and
• make more investments in renewable energy that support our communities.

The specifics of these metrics and requirements will be decided in future phases of this process.

Next Steps for the FAIR Energy Act

Last Fall, regulators at the Public Utility Commission opened four dockets as part of their process to roll out the FAIR Energy Act over multiple stages. Regulators plan to accomplish the big goals set out in this process by mid-2027. The five main components include:

• Building frameworks for required multi-year plans for rate increases (Phase 1 completed)
• Setting a schedule for when utilities can request major bill increases
• Banning winter rate increases for households
• Customer impact analysis filed with each utility proposal to raise rates
• Utility reporting expectations (bill increases and what costs are causing rates to go up)

These wins mark the completion of phase 1 of the multi-year rate increase plan. Stay tuned for specific actions you can take to ensure the next phase of the FAIR Energy Act is implemented with customers top of mind!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

2026 Conference - Moving Forward Hand-in-Hand: Solutions for a More Just Energy Transition

This year, CUB’s 16th annual conference is jam-packed with engaging speakers and networking opportunities. We’ve recruited the best of the best in the energy industry to speak on local solutions for the global challenges facing Oregon’s energy sector. Today, we’re excited to announce our second morning breakout panel, Moving Forward Hand-in-Hand: Solutions for a More Just Energy Transition.

Register today for the 2026 CUB Energy Policy Conference and save! Early Bird registration closes at 5:00 pm on September 18.

Register Today

2026 Conference Theme: Harnessing Local Energy

Finding Local Solutions to (Inter)National Energy Challenges
In just the last few years, Oregon’s energy landscape has seen many big, new challenges. We’ve seen hyperscaled energy demand from data centers, cuts to federal support for customers and utilities, large rate increases, and record household disconnections. With all of these hurdles, attention is increasingly turning to what we can do close to home to address both our energy needs and the human impacts of our industry.

In a world with increasingly globalized energy, we need to start to think more locally for solutions.

Panel 1B—Moving Forward Hand-in-Hand: Solutions for a More Just Energy Transition

Energy efficiency has rightly been the Northwest’s affordability ethos for a long time. But our approach itself needs an upgrade. Many families are still forced to navigate living in homes that are too hot or too cold, with broken, unsafe, or inefficient appliances causing their energy bills to rise. This lack of access to affordable, efficient home energy is something bill discount programs can never address on their own. Despite some progress, we need to address gaps in the existing supports for Oregonians who have fewer resources, ensuring they are not left behind in the energy transition.

How can we ensure families living on low incomes, renters, and those in mobile and manufactured homes do not continue to suffer disproportionately? How can promising new technologies support a more just energy transition? Who will get to live in more resilient, affordable, and safe homes as a result? And why isn’t the current answer: all of us?

Moderator: Sarah Wochele, Equity Analyst & Advocate, Oregon CUB

About the Conference

The CUB Energy Policy Conference is designed as a day of discussion, networking, and sharing diverse perspectives. This conference is ideal for community groups, regulators, advocates, utility representatives, attorneys, or those interested in our region’s energy industry.

16th Annual CUB Energy Policy Conference

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sentinel Hotel
614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205

Conference Website

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Pacific Power Requests 11.3% Residential Increase

This year, Pacific Power is asking for another billing rate increase that could raise Oregon power bills starting next spring. This request comes after the utility has raised billing rates by about 50% since 2021. Pacific Power is asking for more money from customers for infrastructure projects, higher insurance costs, profit margin increases, and coal projects across its system. The request also includes adjustments for the proposed sale of its Washington service area to Portland General Electric, which has not yet been approved by either state.

CUB is looking into this request with an eye for customer impact. We are working to ensure any additional money added to Oregonians’ power bills is fair and reasonable.

Want even more information? Check out the full docket (UE 470) on the Oregon Public Utility Commission Website!

Potential Impacts to Pacific Power Customers

Pacific Power is asking for an 11.3% increase for residential customers starting in April 2027. If approved, this could add $15 to the highest bills in winter, from $175 to $190 for an average household, not accounting for extreme temperatures.

Included in this request is also a raise to the flat fee charged each month for general operation and customer service. Pacific Power wants to raise the basic charge for single-family customers from $13 to $17 per month. The increase would be from $8 to $9 for multi-family customers.

Too Soon to Project Reduced Impacts

When Pacific Power initially filed this request with regulators, the utility suggested that additional factors could reduce the overall impact to a 1-2% increase. CUB is concerned that this projection is premature and may cause confusion for customers.

Pacific Power seems to be framing this request as inconsequential, when that is not set in stone. While it is true that some costs are coming to a close from years past, the rest of the decreases Pacific Power is pointing to that bring the total impact down are not set in stone. While right now it is projecting that power costs are going down, we all can see how vulnerable costs are for fossil fuels with continuing global conflict. Pacific Power is also banking on the sale of its Washington territory going through, resulting in a three-year credit to Oregon customers.

What Is Pacific Power Asking For?

In the overall rate increase filing, Pacific Power includes a request for more money for:

• Increase profit margins
• Infrastructure projects
• Higher insurance costs
• Coal replacement

Increased Profit Margins: Pacific Power is asking for an increase in the allowable profits it can make for its shareholders. The proposal increases its approved Return on Equity to 9.7% (currently 9.5%). While this sounds like a small change, it would add more than $8 million a year to customers’ power bills.

Infrastructure Projects: Pacific Power is looking to recover spending from two big projects: the Willamette River Crossing Project, an underground line removal/replacement project, and Gateway South, a transmission project. The last time the utility asked for customers to pay for Gateway South, regulators added additional requirements before it could go onto power bills. CUB will be looking into these expenses to ensure they are reasonable.

Higher Insurance Costs: Since 2020, insurance costs for all utilities have gone up because of wildfire risks. Pacific Power is asking for over $49 million (spread over many years) to pay for both increased liability insurance premiums and self-insurance costs. CUB will be looking into these costs to make sure they benefit customers.

Coal Replacement: Oregon has a law that requires utilities to remove all coal expenses from customers’ bills by 2030. Pacific Power still has a number of coal plants on its books and in operation for other states on its system. With the sale of the Washington service territory, Pacific Power is asking Oregon customers to cover more coal costs than were previously allocated. The company is also asking for funding for repairs to damaged coal plants that will be on the books long after 2030, when they are no longer useful to Oregon customers. CUB will be working with the company to ensure that Oregon customers’ payments are fair and balanced with state policy.

Proposed Sale of Washington Service Area Creates More Questions

The biggest piece of this case is the proposed sale of Pacific Power’s Washington service area to Portland General Electric. Coal replacement has become more complicated because of this sale, as Washington is not taking any coal with it. With fewer customers to pay for coal resources, Oregon and the other four remaining states for Pacific Power’s parent company will have to pick up the bill.

If the Washington sale is approved, Pacific Power plans to add a big chunk of coal costs to Oregon power bills. While CUB and other interveners are still working to get all the information, Pacific Power currently estimates this could add $8 million to customer bills per year.

Oregon made a decision not to extend the life of coal plants. Through the sale, Pacific Power is asking to add coal plants that go against that decision. And we would have to pay more because of it!

While this sale would also come with a three-year credit to customers, it is unclear how much Oregon can expect. With four other states and shareholders also vying to receive a credit, there will be a lot of negotiations outside of this case in Oregon. CUB is skeptical that the benefits of this sale will be as good for Oregonians as Pacific Power is promoting.

Get Involved!

While there are still many unknowns about what impact these requests could have on Pacific Power bills in Oregon, we know one thing for sure: Oregonians are struggling to pay their energy bills.

We need your help to make sure that customers are at the forefront of this case. Tell regulators to focus on the needs of Oregonians when making their decision!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

2026 Conference: Data Centers: New Kids On the Block Panel

CUB’s Annual Energy Policy Conference is back and better than ever! We’ve recruited industry experts and community leaders to speak on local solutions to the global challenges facing Oregon’s energy sector. Today, we’re excited to announce our morning breakout panel, Data Centers: New Kids on the Block.

Register today for the 2026 CUB Energy Policy Conference and save! Early Bird registration closes at 5:00 pm on September 18.

Register Today

2026 Conference Theme: Harnessing Local Energy

Finding Local Solutions to (Inter)National Energy Challenges
In just the last few years, Oregon’s energy landscape has seen many big, new challenges. We’ve seen hyperscaled energy demand from data centers, cuts to federal support for customers and utilities, large rate increases, and record household disconnections. With all of these hurdles, attention is increasingly turning to what we can do close to home to address both our energy needs and the human impacts of our industry.

In a world with increasingly globalized energy, we need to start to think more locally for solutions.

Panel 1A—Data Centers: New Kids On the Block

Over the last few years, the demand for electricity in Oregon has grown significantly, largely due to data centers. When these new neighbors come to town, we need to work collaboratively to ensure we all have our needs met. Oregonians have all done our part through shifting when we use energy, piloting demand response programs in our homes, energy efficiency investments, and more. Data center flexibility is critical to being a good grid neighbor. We will discuss effective data center energy efficiency and policy, and what it looks like for DCs to shoulder a fair share of the flexibility responsibility on a shared system.

How can large load energy users create benefits for local communities and the grid? How can we leverage efficiency and flexibility as a tool for affordable energy? What are creative ways data centers can pledge to be good grid neighbors as they connect their outsized loads onto our shared grid?

Moderator: Jennifer Hill-Hart, Policy & Program Director, Oregon CUB

About the Conference

The CUB Energy Policy Conference is designed as a day of discussion, networking, and sharing diverse perspectives. This conference is ideal for community groups, regulators, advocates, utility representatives, attorneys, or those interested in our region’s energy industry.

16th Annual CUB Energy Policy Conference

Friday, October 2, 2026
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sentinel Hotel
614 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205

Conference Website

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Know Your Rights: Cooling Protections for Renters

Unfortunately, climate change-fueled hot summers have become the norm in Oregon. With this new reality, staying cool is no longer a luxury; it’s necessary to stay safe and healthy in our homes.

If you’re a renter considering air conditioning options this summer, it’s important that you know your rights to keep your home cool. The Emergency Heat Relief bill (SB 1536), which passed in the 2022 Oregon State legislative session, helped expand cooling protections for renters.

Expanded Protections for Renters

The Emergency Heat Relief bill changed the rights renters have around accessing life-saving cooling devices. It also supported funding for distributing AC units to low-income households. Access to cooling devices can mean the difference between life and death, as Oregonians experienced firsthand during the deadly 2021 Northwest Heat Dome.

SB 1536 limits restrictions on portable cooling devices in residences by landlords, homeowners associations, condominium associations, and local governments between May and September each year, removing legal barriers for renters to install air conditioner units. The bill defines “portable cooling devices” as “air conditioners and evaporative coolers, including devices mounted in a window or that are designed to sit on the floor.” This does not include devices that would require alteration of the home itself.

This means that, with a few exceptions, landlords can’t ban window units or portable A/C units for renters.

Limited Restrictions on Cooling Devices

While the law removes many legal barriers, there are a few exceptions. Housing providers, such as landlords, may not prohibit or restrict residents from installing or using their preferred cooling device unless it fits one of the following restrictions:

The installation or use of the device may not:

• Violate building codes or state or federal law
• Violate the device manufacturer’s written safety guidelines for the device
• Damage the premises or render the premises uninhabitable
• Require amperage to power the device that cannot be accommodated by the power service to the building, dwelling unit, or circuit

If the device is to be installed in a window, it may not:

• Be installed on a window that is a necessary egress (emergency exit) from the home
• Interfere with the resident’s ability to lock the window if it is accessible from outside
• Require the use of brackets or hardware that would damage or void the warranty of the window or frame, puncture the envelope of the building, or cause significant damage
• Be used without adequately draining the device to prevent damage to the unit or building
• Be installed in a way that does not pose a risk of falling

Optional - Housing providers may require that the device be:

• Installed or removed by the housing provider or housing provider’s agent
• Subject to inspection or servicing by the housing provider or housing provider’s agent
• Removed from October 1 to April 30

Landlords may only enforce the optional restrictions listed above if they provide a written list of restrictions to the residents. This letter must also state if the housing provider intends to operate an optional community cooling space.

Know Your Rights: Stay Safe this Summer

At CUB, we believe that all Oregonians deserve to be safe and healthy in their homes, which includes ensuring access to life-saving cooling devices. Share this blog to spread the word about your rights!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Summer Energy Saving Tips (2026)

Summer is officially here! As temperatures rise, we need to take steps to stay cool in our homes for our health and safety, regardless of whether we rent or own. Read on to learn how you can stay cool this summer while saving energy!

Cooling without Air Conditioning

Air conditioning units can be expensive, both to run and to purchase. If you don’t have access to air conditioning, you still have options to keep cool and stay safe.

Open Windows Strategically
Letting in outside air is a great way to passively cool your home if you open your windows at the right time. Try to only open windows when the outside temperature is cooler than the inside temperature.

During the evening, night, and early morning, open your windows to let in cooler air. During the daytime, keep your windows closed.

Cover your windows
When the sun is hitting your windows, close blinds and drapes to block incoming heat. As sunlight hits the inside of your home, it heats it up. The closer the covering is to your window’s glass, the more effective it will be.

Insulated drapes, blackout curtains, and honeycomb-style blinds are particularly energy efficient. Window coverings are especially effective if you have inefficient single-pane windows.

Use Fans
Fans allow you to keep cool while using less energy than air conditioning systems. Ceiling fans use 5 percent of the energy of a window air conditioner unit. Box fans are more affordable than A/C units.

During the day, while your windows are closed, use fans directly on your body. Fans don’t actually cool down the air. But having a breeze can help your body cool faster, making you more comfortable.

From evening to early morning, add a box fan to your open window. Box fans can help move the cooler air inside more quickly. This is most effective if you can leave the windows open with the fans on overnight. 

For those in the Portland area, check out Community Energy Project’s DIY Cooling Workshop. Qualified participants will receive free cooling supplies.

Small Unit/Portable Air Conditioning

For many people, particularly renters, portable air conditioning is the only option. In 2022, many organizations and local governments plan to help. For those in Portland, check out the Heat Relief Program from Earth Advantage. Read our recent blog, Cooling Resources for Oregonians, for more information about renters’ rights for A/C and how to qualify for free cooling units!

Choose the Right Unit for Your Space
When purchasing an air conditioning unit, make sure that you are sizing it correctly. Your room size, amount of sunlight, and other factors impact what is best for your cooling. If you buy an A/C unit that is too big, you’ll use too much energy. Buy too small, though, and you won’t stay as cool.

Energy Star is a helpful resource for sizing your cooling and finding an energy-efficient option.

Only Cool Used Rooms
If you use room air conditioners, only turn them on in rooms you’re actively using. When the unit is on, close the door to the room you’re in. This helps cool the room faster and uses less energy.

Consider also closing the doors to rooms that you are not using. This will help keep the heat from those rooms trapped and the space cooler. (Please note that this advice does not apply to whole-house air conditioning.)

See the bottom of this article for maintenance tips.

Whole House Air Conditioning

Many households enjoy air conditioning throughout their homes. While these systems are generally more efficient overall, they can cost more than smaller units. Whether you already have central air or you’re looking to install it, here are some energy tips to consider.

Consider Switching to a Heat Pump
Heat pumps are high-efficiency heating and cooling systems. These systems work by taking the heat from the air around them and moving (pumping) it inside or outside. In the summer, the heat pump takes the warmer air inside and moves it outside, keeping you cool. During the winter, it does the opposite to warm your home.

Heat pumps are growing in popularity because of how efficient they are. A traditional electric furnace is usually around 95 percent efficient. A heat pump is around 300 percent efficient. This helps you save money on your heating and cooling year-round. Find out more about switching with Energy Trust.

Read More: Heat Pumps 101 Blog

Keep Your Interior Doors Open
When your air conditioning is turned on, keep doors between rooms open as much as possible. Particularly with ducted air conditioning, airflow is key to efficiency. When doors are closed, your system has to work harder to move air and uses more energy. (Please note that this advice does not apply to portable A/C units.)

Use Your Thermostat Efficiently
Avoid setting your air conditioner’s thermostat at a colder setting than necessary when first turning it on. Air conditioners remove heat from the home at a constant rate. Initially, setting your air conditioner at a colder-than-necessary temperature does not cool your home any faster. And if you forget to turn the temperature down, you end up using more energy.

Try to set your thermostat to 78 degrees during the day when you’re at home. Increase the temperature by 5-7 degrees at night and when you’re away from home. Using a smart thermostat can help make scheduling energy use easy. See if you qualify for a discount with Energy Trust.

Maintain Air Conditioning Units

Conduct regular maintenance on your air-conditioning system to ensure that it runs more efficiently. Ask your service technician to check and clean the heating coil in your air conditioning unit. Remember to replace your air filter at the start of each cooling season and check it monthly after that.

Have a great summer and keep cool using these energy efficiency tips!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

CUB Supports the Eugene Clean Energy Fund

In Eugene, community organizations are trying a new approach to reaching local climate goals: passing the Eugene Clean Energy Fund (ECEF). Activist and grassroots organizations have come together to launch a ballot initiative campaign. If passed, the ballot measure would establish a fee on large corporations to fund local climate actions.

CUB is a strong supporter of local efforts to reduce emissions and address climate change. Activists are currently gathering signatures to put the initiative on the November 2026 ballot.

Eugene’s Initiative: Funding Local Climate Justice Projects

While not a novel concept, taxing corporations is an approach gaining significant traction in addressing climate change. Eugene’s Clean Energy Fund would establish a 2% “Large Retailer License Fee” on the gross profits of corporations earning both more than $1 billion in profits annually in the United States and over $500,000 in profits within the City of Eugene.

The funds created by the initiative would fund four major categories of climate justice projects:

• Renewable energy & energy efficiency programs (60%)
• Clean energy jobs training, apprenticeships, & contractor support (25%)
• Green infrastructure programs that result in carbon gas sequestration (10%)
• Future innovation (5%)

A committee of appointed City residents would be responsible for allocating the revenue generated by the fee on clean energy, sustainability, and climate resiliency projects across Eugene. Non-profits and other IRS tax-exempt organizations will be able to apply for the funds to realize these projects.

“It is time to hold billion-dollar corporations accountable. Our community is already experiencing deepening impacts from the climate crisis, alongside a housing and affordability crisis. We need to invest in real solutions now. The Eugene Clean Energy Fund will take two percent of massive corporations’ profits and invest that money into clean energy, community resiliency, and sustainability projects, which will create jobs and help build a better future for our City.”
—Aya Cockram, Eugene Community Member and Chief Initiative Petitioner

Leading the initiative is a coalition of environmental and climate justice organizations, including Beyond Toxics, Sierra Club, Oregon Just Transition Alliance, Breach Collective, and more. CUB supports Eugene’s efforts to increase energy efficiency efforts for households and to create funding support to meet local climate goals.

Eugene is Falling Short of Local Climate Goals

In addition to Oregon’s state climate goals, Eugene established its own benchmark for reducing emissions at the local level. The City Council adopted the Climate Recovery Ordinance (CRO) in 2014, setting the goal of reducing community fossil fuel use by 50% of 2010 levels by 2030.

According to the Eugene Clean Energy Fund initiative, community fossil fuel emissions have decreased by only 11% since 2010, leaving a 39% gap to close by 2030.

Drawing Inspiration from the Portland Clean Energy Fund

Eugene’s approach might sound familiar to Portlanders. This initiative is directly modeled after the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF). Passed by voters in 2018,  PCEF is a 1% surcharge on Portland’s largest retailers. The funds are distributed as investments in community-led projects to reduce carbon emissions, making Portland more resilient to climate change. PCEF has generated $1.71 billion in funding for climate programs since its inception.

Similar Local Climate Initiatives

Throughout Oregon, cities and towns are taking matters into their own hands to fight climate change, protecting residents from climate impacts in the long term. Eugene’s efforts to work towards emissions reduction draw similarities to campaigns in Ashland and Bend.

In February 2025, the city of Ashland became the first city in Oregon to impose a fee on new natural gas hookups. Despite public support, the fee faced legal challenges and pushback from Avista, Ashland’s natural gas provider.

Eugene was poised to become the first in Oregon to require 100% electric appliances in new home construction. But strong pushback from NW Natural, including a signature-gathering campaign and legal challenges, forced Eugene’s city council to back down from the efforts.

Earlier this month, Bend joined Ashland in adopting a fee on natural gas appliances in some new residential construction. The Bend Climate Impact Fee places a one-time fee on new homes built with natural gas. The fee is based on the size of the home and its anticipated energy use. Developers who build with modern, all-electric systems avoid this charge entirely.

CUB has expressed mounting concern that continuing to grow the natural gas system comes with too much financial risk to current and future Oregonians. Adding gas service to new buildings increases costs to existing customers and adds additional risk in the future.

Read More: CUB Supports the Bend Climate Impact Fee

CUB Supports Local Initiatives

At CUB, we believe in a just transition to clean, affordable energy. The Eugene Clean Energy Fund will help move the city towards that goal. CUB has officially endorsed the initiative and encourages other organizations to support these local efforts.

Folks who would like to get involved can reach out to the Eugene Clean Energy Fund directly for volunteer opportunities!

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

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Preparing for Oregon’s Wildfire Season (2026)

As summer months continue to grow longer and hotter each year, the risk of large-scale wildfires in Oregon continues to increase. Many people in Oregon live in high wildfire-risk areas. It’s essential to prepare ahead of time for wildfires to ensure your household and community stay safe.

In this blog, we lay out how to stay informed of utility shut-offs, how to prepare ahead of time, and what you can do to prepare your home in case of a wildfire.

Stay Informed of Utility Shut-Offs

Oregon electric utilities will be using public safety shutoffs as a last resort. Shutting off power during fire season is itself a public hazard. Shutoffs can interrupt cell phone service, delay emergency response, and endanger the health of residents. Many people need home cooling and electricity access to manage medical conditions. Shutoffs are particularly hazardous when they coincide with extreme heat waves.

Not all areas are subject to these preventative outages. Only customers in certain high-risk zones will see public safety shutoffs.

During periods of high wildfire risk, utilities may shut off power to mitigate the risk of a fire. In order to stay informed on utility shut-offs in your area, each utility company has a different way of receiving alerts.

Portland General Electric:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the PGE app for up-to-date alerts.

Pacific Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Pacific Power app for up-to-date alerts.

Idaho Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Idaho Power app to receive real-time alerts.

For more in-depth information on wildfire emergencies and alerts, download the FEMA mobile app to receive details on large-scale wildfires. During an emergency declaration, FEMA updates its app to ensure people have access to up-to-date evacuation information.

Prepare Ahead of Time

It’s critical to have a clearly laid out emergency plan that everyone in your household is familiar with. There are many ways to develop an emergency plan with your household, and each household is different. The Department of Homeland Security has created a helpful, interactive outline for disaster planning.

Here’s what you can do to prepare for a wildfire:

• Emergency Kits: Prepare kits with essential items like food, water, medications, and important documents. Have enough supplies for at least two weeks.
• Communication Plan: Make a plan to stay in touch with your family and know different evacuation routes.
• Alerts and Notifications: Sign up for local emergency alerts to stay updated on wildfire news. The FEMA mobile app and local county notifications can give real-time alerts.

Make sure that once you have your plan in place, everyone in your household understands the plan and reviews it every few months.

It’s Time to Evacuate, What’s in Your Go-Bag?

It’s essential to have a go-bag ready in your house in case of an emergency. Each person’s go-bag contents may vary, but there are some essentials that every go-bag should have:

• An N95 Respirator for every household member
• 1 gallon of water for every person, per day, for several days
• A five-day supply of nonperishable food for every person in your household
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
• Flashlight
• First Aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle
• Hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, and toilet paper
• Can opener
• Solar cellphone charger or a fully charged battery-powered cellphone charger
• A five-day supply of any important medications

These items should be placed in an easily accessible space in your home. If you are able to, it is recommended you grab any important personal documents, like your passport, along with your go-bag.

Prepare Your Home

One of the best ways to protect your home is by creating a defensible space around it. This means:

• Clearing Vegetation: Remove dead plants, dry leaves, and other flammable materials from your yard.
• Plant Selection: Choose plants that are less likely to catch fire. Oregon State University has resources to help you pick the right ones.
• Maintaining Property: Regularly mow the lawn, trim trees, and clean out gutters.

Home Hardening

Making changes to your home can help it resist catching fire from embers and heat. Here are some tips:

• Roof and Gutters: Use fire-resistant materials for your roof and keep gutters clean.
• Vents and Openings: Cover vents with mesh to keep embers out.
• Windows and Doors: Install double-paned windows and make sure doors are fire-resistant.

By taking these steps, you can help keep your home and family safe during wildfire season. Preparedness is key. Always remember, the safety of you and your family comes first.

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

Home Cooling, Heat Resilience, and Energy Security

Editor’s Note: This blog is adapted from CUB’s presentation to the Interim House Committee on Housing and Homelessness on June 16, 2026. To see the full video of this presentation, visit the Oregon Legislature website.

Energy inefficient homes can create a host of problems: families struggling to make ends meet, unsafe living conditions, housing instability, and a bigger strain on our energy grid.

Energy Insecurity & Housing Instability

A disconnection for non-payment is the canary in the coal mine for housing instability, for eviction, and for foreclosure. When families don’t pay their energy bills, it is almost always because they have to prioritize housing costs and other household essentials like food and medicine.

Even before a family misses a bill, families have often already been using coping strategies, or what we call “energy-limiting behaviors,” to try to get by with as little energy as possible. To try to better afford their energy bills and avoid being shut off from energy entirely. For example, not using AC at all in the summer. This is energy insecurity.

“I was forced into choosing to pay my power bill or buying groceries, or paying my power bill or my rent. I chose to have a home. I cut back on how much I eat and was eating less healthy foods because they are cheaper. I also started reducing the amount of power I use, only turning on the lights when absolutely needed and only running the AC when it was super hot.” - Ceri S., Medford, OR

When families cannot afford to cool their homes in the summer due to inefficient housing, inefficient or a lack of cooling, they face dangerous circumstances that impact their health and safety. People do die in their homes from heat and lack of cooling.

Energy Insecurity: Summer 2025 Data

Nearly one-third of the disconnections that happened in 2025 (a total of 71,190) happened in the summer. In June, July, and August of 2025, 21,306 households were shut off from energy service because they could not afford their bills. Of these, 80% were electricity system disconnects. This is energy insecurity.

“I am a disabled ex-Marine. I have glaucoma and edema of the retina, leaving me unable to see. I lost my job because of this and now am unable to work at all. I received very little money from disability and am unable to keep up with my bills. My power is on but I can’t run the A/C, even when the temp is supposed to be 103º in Medford today, because the bill gets too high.” - Mark S. Medford, OR

Portland General Electric: Low-Income Customers with High Energy Use

This data looks at a subset of households that are enrolled in PGE’s monthly bill discount program. That means we know they have incomes at or below 60% of the State Median Income, adjusted for household size. In 2025, that would be $78,827 a year for a family of four. These customers have higher-than-average energy use and are in the top 10% of energy users in the bill discount program.

You can see the tremendous disparities in usage that result in much higher energy bills for already low-income families. It is very safe to assume that in these winter months in particular, these households have resistance heating and are living in homes that are in serious need of weatherization and repair.

“This summer, PGE disconnected my service due to overdue payments. The higher prices during the winter were too expensive for me and accumulated. I owed PGE $1079.39 and one day in June, they disconnected me. I think it was a Friday. My family was left without electricity for a day and a night [...] Simply put, you can either pay for rent, food, or electricity, but you can’t pay for all three.” - Soledad M., Portland, OR

And when looking at the whole year of data, it is the same story. High usage customers are consistently double or higher than the monthly average of the average residential customer. In August 2025, these families used more than 2x the energy as the average PGE household, and their bill was over $100 more, even with their monthly discount.

This shows you another measure of energy insecurity: how much families owe in past-due bills across the year.

The green line at the top represents these known low-income customers who receive a monthly bill discount and who have very high energy use, and how much in past-due bills they owe on average each month. We can see that households with the highest usage—households that we know are living with low incomes—have tremendous past due bills, especially coming out of the winter heating season. They simply cannot afford $400 dollar monthly winter bills or $300 dollar monthly summer bills.

Pacific Power: Low-Income Customers with High Energy Use

This is the same subset of households, but in Pacific Power territory. You can see that while Pacific Power has fewer impacted households than PGE, there are extreme disparities in usage that result in unacceptable energy bills for low-income families. Generally, Pacific Power customers live in parts of the state where it’s colder in the winter and hotter in the summer, so they are going to be using more energy than PGE customers on average.

In August 2025, these families used nearly 5x the energy as the average Pacific Power household, and their bill was over $300 more, even with their monthly discount.

How can a low-income family afford a monthly winter heating bill of $600? And a summer bill that is almost $500? These homes are very likely in desperate need of critical repairs, weatherization, and other energy efficiency upgrades to their home.

“I get $2,595 between retirement and benefits. I pay $152 a month for Pacific Power. It’s more and the winter, and my gas bill goes up too. But right now I’m paying 6% of my income just on the power bill. I ended up getting my power shut off because the trailer I was living in wasn’t weather proofed at all. Then the rates kept increasing, so my power bill kept getting higher and higher. I’m on a fixed income, so it eventually became more than I could pay. I’m also on disability. I eventually did get shut off.” - Lisa L., Phoenix, OR

Beyond Summer: Energy Efficiency is Needed Year Round

While the focus of this blog is on cooling and heat resilience, from an energy perspective, you cannot separate summer resilience solutions from winter resilience solutions. It is good news that these seasonal problems can have the same solutions. It just means we can get more bang for our buck!

In the winter, heating is needed around the clock to stay safe and warm. But many families have very inefficient means to heat their homes, such as resistance heat, which includes baseboard heaters, wall heaters, or even space heaters.

For families who live in inefficient housing, on top of having resistance heat, managing their energy bills in the winter is even more of a problem. Those in drafty homes in need of repairs and weatherization have higher energy costs. We see this for those low-income families with the highest usage in PGE and Pacific Power territory data above.

But what we cannot see from the data shared here are all of the different dangerous coping mechanisms families have to endure. Families wearing winter jackets, hats, and scarves inside. Skipping meals. Stopping their insulin. All to save money on outrageous energy bills.

High Energy Demand Threatens Our Energy Grid

The inefficiency of our home’s infrastructure and equipment is not just a problem for individual homes and the families who live in them. It’s a problem for the entire energy grid.

Having many homes that use significant amounts of energy on the hottest and coldest days doesn’t help our grid. But a much larger threat to grid reliability is data centers.

Data centers threaten our shared grid’s reliability, and on a larger scale than inefficient homes. They create more risks for widespread blackouts in the coming years during energy emergencies that can come from extreme weather. This is of particular concern in the winter, as we have fewer resources available to meet our peak energy needs.

Because of the scale of the issue, it is no one family’s responsibility to solve the problem in their own home. The threats to our energy grid go well beyond personal responsibility, especially for those who cannot afford expensive home upgrades. We must all work together to rein in our energy demand across the state.

Leveraging Data Centers for Good: Lowering Household Energy Bills

We do have solutions to address resiliency at both the household and grid level to ensure more resilient summers and winters for all of us: weatherization, home repairs, and heat pumps.

“As a young person who rents, my utility bill in the summer months is about three times higher than in the winter months. This is because my apartment was not built to insulate from heat, and I have no central air conditioning. The portable AC units that I have raise my electric bill substantially, and my apartment is still often 90 degrees inside on hot days.” - Paloma R., Ashland, OR

One solution to addressing grid reliability, especially under a just energy transition framework, is intentionally reducing the energy needs of households that have inefficient housing infrastructure and appliances. And we can include data centers as a part of that solution.

If data centers want to come to town, they need to be good neighbors. By requiring data centers to help fund critical home repairs and energy efficiency improvements, we can feed two birds with one scone. Data centers can receive incentives for doing so, such as joining the grid faster. And low-income households can access much-needed funding that is not currently available for solutions that not only lower energy bills well into the future, but also make homes healthy.

This has the potential to add significant capacity to the grid by reducing the energy needs of the overall system. And better ensure a just energy transition for Oregonians who are struggling to make ends meet!

Read More: Oregon Still Needs More Protections Against Data Centers (CUB Blog)

Heat Pumps Provide Benefits Year Round

In addition to much-needed critical repairs with weatherization, we need to ensure our heating and cooling appliances are the most efficient. While AC and heat pumps use the same sort of technology, new heat pumps are so efficient that they take less energy to cool. This means you can spend less money to stay cool and safe in your home.

Cold-weather heat pumps are 150-200% more efficient than resistance heating. For example, on the coldest of days, like a 5-degree Fahrenheit day, a cold-weather heat pump uses half the energy of resistance heat!

Our Homes Are the First Line of Defense

Investing in making homes more efficient, for the families who can least afford it, is an investment in resiliency for our homes:

• Helps keep people housed and healthy in their homes
• Helps keep everyone’s energy costs down
• Helps families make room for the costs of other essentials like housing, food, healthcare, and transportation

These resiliency investments in our homes can also benefit the overall energy grid and wider communities:

• Increases grid capacity and reliability
• Lowers the risk of energy emergencies during extreme weather
• Reduces emissions and improves air quality

Unfortunately, right now, thousands of homes across Oregon are making families more exposed to climate and energy-related risks. And energy efficiency can be a big part of the solution for not just these families, but everyone in Oregon.

Our homes can actually be the first line of defense against energy insecurity, against an increasingly strained energy grid, and against more extreme weather.

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!

CUB Supports Spreading Out Energy Bill Increases

Last year, CUB did something we’ve never done before. We took the lead on four energy affordability bills during Oregon’s legislative session—and we passed all of them! Among those big victories, the FAIR Energy Act (HB 3179) was passed to rein in back-to-back energy bill rate hikes, addressing one of the root causes of Oregon’s energy affordability crisis. Now, regulators at the Public Utility Commission (PUC) have begun to implement the FAIR Energy Act.

Right now, we have the opportunity to make significant strides in reining in utilities asking for big increases to customer bills. Regulators are now considering a proposal that would require all for-profit utilities to create five-year spending plans, meet community-supportive metrics, and stick to a budget.

CUB is supporting this exciting new proposal and encouraging community members to weigh in.

Want even more details? See the full docket! Docket AR 676 is available on the Public Utility Commission website.

Spreading Out Rate Increases: Writing the Rules for Utilities

Regulators have opened a process to develop the specific rules for spreading out utility rate increase requests over multiple years by the end of 2027. The goal of developing this process is to lessen the number of times utilities can raise customers’ energy bills. It’s time to center Oregonians in utility decision-making!

No More Surprises: Creating a Multi-Year Rate Plan Framework

Regulators are now considering a proposal that would require all for-profit utilities to create five-year spending plans, stick to a budget, and meet community-supportive metrics.

With these rules, regulators can better control when rate increases happen. Right now, utilities choose when they want to ask regulators to change billing rates, and regulators have to respond. The longer process not only protects customers from frequent large increases but also allows regulators and advocates to dig deeper into what utilities are asking for in their requests.

CUB Supports Requiring Five Year Plans

Proposed: Utilities must create five-year plans for spending, investments, and more.

We’ve all seen what happens when utilities are not held to budgeting plans: power bills up by 50% in four years (2021-2025). By requiring utilities to create five-year plans, we can hold them accountable for controlling their costs. And creating a standard expectation of what will go into these plans helps regulators, advocates, and customers know what to expect for the near future.

In the past, it was uncommon for utilities to ask for big bill increases every year. But now, it’s become standard for utilities to make requests most years. These rules will help ensure utilities better control their costs, protecting your home energy bills. Right now, utilities can also request approval for smaller rate increases as needed for one-off or specific programs. Before the FAIR Energy Act passed, utilities were asking for more one-off requests, more often, making it difficult to track how much energy bills increased year over year.

And utilities want to maintain the status quo. Oregon’s largest for-profit utilities are pushing back hard to keep the status quo. In fact, what they are arguing for could even make things worse. Having standardized requirements for long-term planning means they have to change their tactics and face the realities of limits. Not having the “flexibility” to raise customers’ bills when it is most convenient for them is a big change. But it’s a change that is in the best interest of Oregonians!

CUB Supports Requiring Utilities to Stick to a Budget

Proposed: Utilities have limits on how much money can be added to customers’ bills over the length of their five-year plans.

We are all tied to a budget, and our utilities should be, too. Over the last five years, as utilities have added massive amounts to our gas and electric bills, more and more Oregonians have struggled to keep up with costs. This is especially true for households living in old homes that desperately need critical repairs, weatherization, and other energy efficiency upgrades. Disconnections are on the rise, with record numbers of families losing critical utility service each year because it is too expensive. And a goal of the FAIR Energy Act is to help make sure this trend does not continue!

Without clear guardrails, utilities will keep spending and asking us to pay them back. For example, PGE has been a major offender in allowing costs to balloon without much accountability. In 2020, PGE set a capital spending target for 2024 at $500 million. By February of 2023, it had grown by almost 50% to $730 million. But its growth kept accelerating, to $1.34 billion in April of 2024 - a 268% increase from the original spending target in just four years.

But utilities do not like this budget framework. Instead of a standardized framework, they are arguing for aspects of the plan to be handled on a case-by-case basis. But what they are actually asking for is to be able to continue throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. And this approach comes at the expense of customers. We need to stop the unending major bill increases and give customers more predictability.

CUB Supports Requiring Utilities to Meet Community Benefit Metrics

Proposed: Utilities have requirements for meeting performance standards on disconnections, maintaining their system, and (for electric utilities) community-based clean energy.

Oregon’s for-profit electric utilities need some encouragement to make choices that reflect Oregonians’ values. In addition to the FAIR Energy Act, state legislators also passed Performance-Based Regulation (SB 688) in 2025. With this new framework, a portion of utilities’ profits would be tied to what Oregonians value most. These priorities can be related to affordability for customers, reducing emissions, meeting safety standards, and other goals.

The proposal for meeting community benefit metrics helps ensure that Oregonians’ needs are adequately met by utilities. This proposal includes utility company necessities: reliability, safety, and customer service. But it also goes further to require performance on reducing disconnections, making the most out of our existing infrastructure to limit unnecessary investments, and more investments in renewable energy that support our communities.

Utilities say they aren’t ready to move forward with developing performance metrics, and we should wait. Their argument is that they need more time to assess what communities need. But we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. This stalling tactic is one that we have seen countless times: delay studies and do nothing. And we already have a lot of existing data pointing to what customers need. Oregonians need utilities that work for them, and moving forward with developing these metrics is the right thing to do.

Even More to Come: FAIR Energy Act Implementation

HB 3179 requires energy rate increase requests to be spread out to at least every 3 years by 2027, with added customer protections before next year. It also prevents increases in home energy rates during peak winter months, when energy usage and bills are highest. And it increases transparency so consumers know what they are paying for and what to expect from any proposed changes to energy bills.

Together, we can expect these changes to slow the pace of energy bill hikes and help customers be more prepared for future increases.

Multiple Stages to Making FAIR Energy a Reality

Last Fall, regulators at the Public Utility Commission opened four dockets as part of their process to roll out the FAIR Energy Act over multiple stages. The five main components include:

• Building frameworks for required multi-year plans for rate increases
• Setting a schedule for when utilities can request major bill increases
• Banning winter rate increases for home customers
• Customer impact analysis
• Utility reporting expectations (bill increases and what costs are causing rates to go up)

Regulators plan to accomplish the big goals set out in this process by mid-2027.

Read More: Next Steps for the FAIR Energy Act (CUB Blog)

Stay Up to Date on Oregon Utility Issues

CUB will continue to advocate for people in Oregon on major utility issues. 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.

Donate to CUB

To keep up with CUB, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn!