In this blog series, we go utility by utility to explain the language included in your monthly gas and electric bill. Find the blog that covers your utility below!

Utility Guides:

• Portland General Electric
• Pacific Power
• Idaho Power
• NW Natural Gas
• Cascade Natural Gas
• Avista Gas

Please note that CUB primarily works with for-profit utilities, so this list is limited to those utilities. If you have a question about a utility not on this list, you can still contact us at !

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!

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!

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!

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 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 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!

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!

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.

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!

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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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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!