Pacific Power Begins New Customer Protections Against Data Centers
Posted on November 13, 2026 by Cassie Allen
Tags, Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 13, 2026
Pacific Power Begins New Customer Protections Against Data Centers
Regulators approve a new agreement to ensure data centers pay for their own energy costs, ensuring data centers use clean energy and help fund low-income home energy retrofits.
SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Public Utility Commission approved an agreement between advocates and Pacific Power. Now, Pacific Power customers have a strong suite of protections against data centers’ impact on Oregonians’ energy bills.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, new Pacific Power data centers will be held responsible for their own energy costs. These new rules will only apply to future data centers and existing ones making significant investments, which regulators identified as the most pressing challenge to address. Right now, the utility has very few existing data centers on its system.
“With a long line of data centers waiting at Pacific Power’s door, I’m confident that we have the right protections at the right time,” said Bob Jenks, Executive Director of Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board. “We were able to stop more extreme impacts on power bills just in time.”
Data centers over 100 MW will also have to pay a small surcharge to fund energy efficiency upgrades for low-income households. This includes funding for deep home retrofits, lowering energy use across the grid while saving customers on monthly bills.
“Many of the households we serve are already struggling to afford their energy bills and risk having their utilities shut off. Data centers will help fund weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades, and the critical home repairs that often prevent our clients from accessing these improvements in the first place,” said Charity Fain, Executive Director of Community Energy Project. “Requiring data centers to cover the costs of the energy infrastructure they need, rather than passing those costs on to residential customers, is an important protection for low-income households, seniors, and people with disabilities.”
Under this order, if there is a power emergency, Pacific Power can prioritize critical energy use for other customers, like renters and homeowners, by curtailing service to data centers. Increased electric demand by data centers strains the grid and increases the potential for blackouts during heat waves or hard freezes.
“This is a big win that puts Oregon at the forefront of managing data center growth the right way,” said Joshua Basofin, Oregon Clean Energy Program Director at Climate Solutions. “It protects Oregonians from rising costs and strengthens grid resilience. Data centers should not harm our ability to access essential electricity to power our lives and keep us safe all year.”
Regulators also ruled that new data centers can only be connected to Pacific Power’s grid if there is enough emissions-free electricity available to serve them. Under HB 2021, Pacific Power is required by law to serve all customers with 100% emissions-free electricity by 2040. This new rule will help manage costs for other customers outside of data centers during the transition to clean energy.
“We have long known that clean energy is the most affordable form of energy,” said Ben Brint, Senior Climate Program Director at Oregon Environmental Council. “This ruling is a win for data center accountability, and for Oregonians across the state — especially frontline communities already bearing the brunt of climate impacts and rising energy costs. It will save ratepayers money in the short and long run, allocating costs appropriately while advancing Oregon’s 100% clean energy goals.”
This change also comes at a time when many Oregonians are calling for broader changes to how the state handles data centers. Impacts on data centers are poised to be an issue again at the Oregon State Legislature in 2027.
“The POWER Act demonstrated the people’s power to fight back against the rising energy rates and ecosystem harms that large data centers inflict,” said Emily Bowes, Policy Strategist & Acting Director at Sierra Club Oregon. “In 2027, alongside new and returning climate champions, we will continue to fight for a clean energy transition in Salem and statewide.”
In 2025, the Oregon Legislature passed the POWER Act to help utilities rein in data centers’ added costs to Oregonians’ energy bills. Last fall, Portland General Electric began the work to roll out this new law in practice. In January, Pacific Power started a similar process for its customers. The next step is to address the few existing data centers on Pacific Power’s system, starting as early as summer 2027. It is unclear if the final phase will include rate adjustments.
###
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cassie Allen
Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board
(503) 486-8018 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
11/13/26 | 0 Comments | Pacific Power Begins New Customer Protections Against Data Centers