CUB Accomplishments

2025 - CUB Saves Oregonians $250 Million in 2025

2025 has been a year for the books! After years of back-to-back increases for gas and electric bills, CUB made big strides to rein in out-of-control energy costs. We passed historic legislation, organized more Oregonians than ever, and even took our work to the courts! In total, CUB has saved Oregon utility customers $250 million this year.

2025 - Big Back-to-Back Bill increases End in 2025

Last year, we saw record numbers of people speaking up about skyrocketing energy costs. This year, Oregonians took a stand and supported the FAIR Energy Act, which eliminates winter bill increases and limits new requests for big rate hikes to only every three years, plus more protections.

2025 - CUB Wins Big at the State Legislature

Oregon’s 2025 legislative session was a major success for CUB, and customers won big this year. Our staff stepped up to a busy legislative session by taking the lead on several major energy affordability bills, a first in our 41-year history. And we’re proud to announce that all of our priority bills and many others that we supported passed!

Power Act (HB 3546)
Big win: Data centers will now pay their fair share for energy

The POWER Act (HB 3546) holds large energy users accountable for paying for their own energy needs. By creating a new customer category for data centers, regulators can protect our energy bills. It also makes for-profit utilities identify costs that large energy users are adding—and make them pay their share.

FAIR Energy Act (HB 3179)
Big win: No winter increases, fewer rate hike requests

The FAIR Energy Act (HB 3179) empowers state regulators to help families avoid big increases in energy bills. This legislation limits how often utilities can ask for bill increases to every three years and eliminates winter rate hikes. Regulators also have more flexibility to consider economic impacts on customers.

Expanding Oregon Energy Assistance (HB 3792)
Big win: $40 million for Oregon energy assistance (double!)

HB 3792 doubles the funding for PGE and Pacific Power customers of the Oregon Energy Assistance Program (OEAP). PGE and Pacific Power households will pay less than $1.50 each month to OEAP. These emergency funds help low-income families avoid shut-offs when they are behind on their energy bills.

Performanced Based Regulation (SB 688)
Big win: Utility profits tied to social benefits

SB 688 empowers regulators to create a new model that ties utility earnings to the public interest. With this new framework, utilities’ profits would be linked to what Oregonians value most. These priorities can be related to affordability, reducing emissions, meeting safety standards, and other goals.

Affordable Broadband (HB 3148)
Big win: Assistance continues for affordable internet

HB 3148 expands the Oregon Telephone Assistance Program (Oregon Lifeline). Existing assistance will increase to provide up to $24.95 per month when combined with remaining federal programs. A one-time benefit of $100 will also be added for purchasing internet devices, like computers or tablets.

2025 - CUB Wins Against Gas Bill Increases

NW Natural Gas: Nearly 67% Cut
This year, NW Natural asked regulators to approve a 7% billing rate increase starting November 21. CUB helped reach an agreement with NW Natural to cut the proposed gas bill increase by two thirds. The gas utility initially requested $59.4 million. Regulators approved two rate increases that together will raise home gas bills by 5.5% on average, about $4.28 per month. 

Big Win: Of all of these cuts, profits were the largest reduction in the rate increase. Originally, NW Natural asked to increase its allowable profit margin from 9.4% to 10.4%. CUB and other advocates negotiated an increase to just 9.5%, in line with other Oregon gas utilities. Just cutting this one profit request saved customers nearly $15 million a year.

Avista Gas: Nearly 50% Cut
Avista gas customers in Oregon saw a small change in their rates starting September 1, 2025. Average single-family customers will see an increase of 2% ($1.36/month) while multi-family customers will see a small decrease of -1% (-$0.30/month). Avista originally requested a 7% increase in rates for household customers. CUB advocates helped cut the requested amount by nearly 50% for all customers.

Big Win: This outcome includes a landmark agreement for Avista to pilot a program for moving homes to all-electric. This is the first time in Oregon that a gas utility has committed to not only allowing customers to receive incentives for switching away from gas, but also the first time a gas utility has agreed to fund a transition to electricity.

2025 - New Disconnection Protections for Customers

After for-profit utilities disconnected a record number of Oregonians in 2024, CUB and other advocates pushed regulators to add stronger protections. Regulators agreed to temporary winter protections last year. In 2025, we won new summer protections.

New summer protections include:

• No disconnections during extreme summer weather
• Limitations on reconnection fees and upfront costs
• Improved support for medical certificate holders
• More communication on customer protections

No one should lose their heating or cooling, especially in the worst of winter or summer. While these new rules are temporary for 2025, permanent rules are on the way! By the end of this year, we will have permanent rules for the winter, with permanent summer rules coming next year. Protections apply to customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power.

 

2025 - Data Centers Must Pay Their Own Energy Costs

This year, CUB has worked hard to tackle a big source of rising energy costs for many Oregonians: data centers. Data centers use a massive amount of electricity — an entire city’s worth! A single 30 MW data center uses more electricity than the City of Ashland. Larger, 250 MW data centers, associated with AI, require a similar amount of energy to the City of Eugene.

And these city-sized energy users are coming to Oregon in droves. Since 2016, PGE has seen more than a 95% growth in energy demand from industrial customers, how data centers were classified before the POWER Act. Meanwhile, PGE’s residential customers’ energy demand has only increased 3.5% since 2016.

We have never seen a single type of customer’s energy demand outpace all others.
Data centers’ rapid growth is unprecedented.

Now that we have passed the POWER Act (HB 3546), CUB has started working to make this law a reality to hold data centers accountable for their own energy costs.

2025 - The Fight Continues: Holding CenturyLink Accountable

CenturyLink, also known as Lumen, has a problem. For years, CenturyLink has failed customers, especially seniors and rural communities, by not delivering on its promise to provide quality landline telephone service.

CUB has worked hard this year to hold CenturyLink accountable for fixing its unreliable service, especially when they’re asking to increase customers’ bills. CUB, along with Oregonians like you, has demanded that CenturyLink be held financially responsible if it doesn’t fix its faulty service, and that regulators don’t raise rates until its service is safe and reliable for all Oregon customers.

2025 - CUB Sues the Feds: Bonneville Power Administration

Oregon is facing overlapping energy challenges: rising utility bills, rising electricity demand from data centers, and stalling progress on meeting clean energy requirements. The last thing we need is for one of our region’s largest clean energy suppliers to reduce ties with the Pacific Northwest. But that’s exactly what Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is set to do.

This summer, CUB joined four other advocates across the region, represented by EarthJustice, in a lawsuit to try to reverse BPA’s decision to splinter Western energy markets. BPA’s decision would cost utility customers billions of dollars. For all utilities, including PGE and Pacific Power, the decision would add $400 million a year. Utilities will pass these added costs onto customers, including Oregon families.

2025 - Courts Agree, Pacific Power Is Not Reducing Enough Emissions

Last year, the Oregon Public Utility Commission ruled that Pacific Power had not made enough progress on reducing emissions. By law, both PGE and Pacific Power must reduce emissions 100% by 2040. Instead of moving toward this goal, Pacific Power has cancelled investments in renewables and decided to take this decision to court.

Now, the Marion County Courts have agreed—Pacific Power is backsliding in not meeting climate mandates. The judge found, based on the record before him, that regulators’ decision left no room for argument. CUB joined this suit with Sierra Club and Green Energy Institute.

2024 - CUB Saved Customers $492 Million in Rate Increases

This year, four of Oregon’s six for-profit energy utilities asked for double-digit rate increases. For NW Natural Gas customers in Western Oregon, we won phasing out subsidies for expanding fossil fuel infrastructure and costs for lobbying and fossil fuel trade associations. For Idaho Power customers in Eastern Oregon, we secured a monthly bill discount program for low-income households. We are still fighting increases from Pacific Power and Portland General Electric and expect big wins by the end of the year.

2024 - New Utility Wildfire Mitigation Plans

As we have seen over the past few years, wildfires are a huge threat to the safety and livelihoods of Oregonians. This year, CUB focused on ensuring that our utilities are planning to protect our communities without sacrificing reliability. And when they fail, CUB is making sure the cost of their negligence is not added to customer bills.

After a summer marked by power outages in areas most affected by wildfires, CUB’s advocates stepped up. We joined forces with advocates from across the state and called on regulators to ensure wildfire plans are made to support community needs and solutions and to do so affordably.

2024 - CUB Helps Pass Four New State Laws

RIGHT TO REPAIR (SB 1596): Now, we have the ability to repair our electronics either ourselves or through a third party. Repairing personal electronics is less expensive and is better for the environment.

CLIMATE BUDGET (SB1530): As part of SB 1530, several Climate Budget requests passed with overwhelming support. The Healthy Homes Program received $15 million to support whole-home energy upgrades. The bill also provides $4 million for the Residential Heat Pump Fund and funding for more!

BATTERY STORAGE PERMITTING (SB 1596): HB 4015 passed, making it easier to build battery storage by integrating battery storage system permits with existing renewable energy projects.

FAMILY FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT (SB 1595): This law helps give Oregonians more fairness in debt collections by updating rules to ensure folks can get back on their feet. The new law can protect customers sent to collections for outstanding utility bills, in addition to other debt collections.

2024 - Holding Utilities Accountable: Planning to Reduce Emissions Affordably

Oregon’s largest energy utilities must reduce their emissions to meet the state’s climate mandates. Unfortunately, Pacific Power and all of the gas utilities are missing the mark. CUB has pushed back hard this year to hold utilities accountable to meet climate regulations.

CUB successfully kept up the pressure on regulators to reject Pacific Power’s faulty clean energy plan. This year, the utility presented a plan that did not meet near-term clean energy targets—and may not ever meet 100% clean energy requirements. Thanks to our work, regulators have once again rejected Pacific Power’s plan to keep investing in fossil fuels and charge customers more instead of meeting climate regulations.

2024 - CUB Eliminates NW Natural Gas Expansion Subsidy

Existing customers will soon no longer pay to expand NW Natural’s business through a subsidy called a “line extension allowance.” This subsidy is often paid to building developers, encouraging new homes to be built with gas. The subsidy will phase out by 2027.

Regulators had reduced the subsidy in 2022 thanks to CUB. This year, we found that NW Natural was still massively overspending. In 2022, the utility spent $86,553 to add a single home. Now, $13.7 million will be removed from rates.

2024 - 40th Anniversary: CUB Saves Oregonians Over $10 Billion Since 1984

In the year of CUB’s 40th anniversary, our work hit a major milestone. CUB has saved Oregon utility customers over $10 billion since 1984. These savings come from cutting utility requests to increase rates, removing major utility investments like the Boardman Coal Plant and Trojan Nuclear Plant from bills, energy efficiency investments, and so much more. Here’s to another 40 years of CUB!

2023 - CUB’s work saved Oregon customers $224,371,000 million

CUB saved customers more than $224 million in 2023. These savings came from a series of rate cases for PGE and Avista utilities. CUB reduced profit margins, stopped unnecessary investments, and eliminated oversized executive compensation. In all cases, CUB held utilities accountable for providing service at an affordable cost.

2023 - Regulators Reject NW Natural’s Flawed Emissions Reduction Plan

Oregon is moving forward in reducing climate pollution from our energy systems. Utilities need clear plans to show how they will meet regulations without skyrocketing costs for customers.

This year, NW Natural failed to meet both expectations and CUB stood strongly in opposition to the utility’s plan. Regulators agreed with CUB and rejected much of NW Natural’s flawed plan to reduce emissions. Now, NW Natural must come up with a more reasonable and affordable plan or the company – not customers – could shoulder the compliance costs. 

Since that win, Oregon’s other two gas utilities have filed plans very similar to NW Natural’s. These plans will have long-lasting impacts on meeting state climate goals. They will also have major impacts on future customer bills. While stopping NW Natural’s plan was a good first step, we will continue pushing back on plans from the other gas utilities’, Avista and Cascade.

2023 - Moving Oregon Toward 100% Clean Electricity

In 2021, Oregon passed the CUB-supported 100% Clean Electricity Bill. Now, Pacific Power and Portland General Electric must run on 100% clean, emission-free electricity by 2040.

CUB and other advocates weighed in as the electric utilities created their plans. With CUB’s urging, regulators have expanded traditional utility planning to include community focuses. Although these Clean Energy Plans are still in progress, CUB is hopeful that we are on the right track. We are continuing to advocate for realistic and cost-effective planning while holding utilities’ feet to the fire in 2024.

2023 - Stronger Protections for Landline Customers

Over the past year, regulators have received complaints about CenturyLink’s landline telephone service in Southern Oregon. After months of CUB advocacy, regulators ordered that CenturyLink make major changes to fix service issues.

By working with communities most impacted, we have seen a groundswell of support for holding CenturyLink accountable. The fight is not over and we will continue to push back in 2024!

Page 1 of 11 pages  1  2  3  >  Last ›