Local News

The Oregonian is reporting that Pacific Power is asking state regulators to approve a 17% rate increase for residential customers and businesses starting next year.

The public-owned utility says it needs the roughly $304 million the rate hike would generate for new renewable energy projects and investments in transmission infrastructure that would allow it to add those sources to the grid.

The money also would pay for reducing wildfire risks, including vegetation management in wildfire-prone areas, creating a catastrophic fire fund and paying for Pacific Power's rapidly growing wildfire insurance premiums, according to the utility.

If the Oregon Public Utility Commission approves the increase, the average residential customer with typical energy usage would pay an additional $29.47 per month. It would be the third double-digit rate increase within three years – on top of the 12.9% increase for residential, business and industrial customers that took effect in January and the 21% rate hike for residential customers in 2023.

Pacific Power serves about 618,000 customers in Oregon including most of southwest Oregon.

In recent years, Pacific Power’s parent company, PacifiCorp, has been hit with multiple wildfire-related lawsuits and has been on the hook to pay related damages. This includes a $62 million verdict and a $90 million judgment for its negligence in the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. The rate increase would not cover wildfire-related litigation costs but does seek to pay for preventive measures to address issues brought up in those lawsuits. The utility is now tracking wildfire litigation costs and could try to recover those costs in a later rate case.