Power company hikes data center bills by 30%, cuts residential electricity costs by 1.3% — Oregon approves change through POWER Act, pushes developments using more than 20 Megawatts of power to pay their fair share

Portland General Electric (PGE), Oregon’s largest electricity supplier, will increase its rate for large power consumers by 29.7%. Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reports that the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the increase, which will primarily affect large industries, data centers, and cryptocurrency mining operations. Meanwhile, costs for residential users will decline. The higher rate class, which was created last year under the state’s POWER Act, will be applied to developments that use more than 20 MW of power, which is about what a large paper mill consumes, and is way lower than the target capacity of some of the largest data centers.

“These changes ensure that costs created by data centers in PGE’s territory are more accurately reflected in their rates,” PUC Chair Letha Tawney said in a statement. “By putting this structure in place now, we are getting ahead of a bigger issue, enabling responsible data centers to pay their own way, and protecting customers from higher costs in the future.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek called this move “a win for Oregonians.” “The POWER Act was intended to ensure fairness and accountability when large energy users, like data centers, take up more load on Oregon’s electrical grid,” Kotek said. “We must continue to do whatever we can to keep working families and small businesses from absorbing the costs of data center energy use.”

This is the first piece of good news to come out of electricity and data centers for residents, at least for the state of Oregon. Opposition against data centers has steadily been increasing, especially in the last few months, with more than 70% of Americans pushing back against data center developments near their communities. This is primarily driven by the massive power consumption that these projects require, leading to unprecedented price hikes in the regions they’re located in. This increase in utility costs isn’t just caused by the massive amount of electricity that data centers use, but also by the huge investments that utility companies must make to upgrade their capacity to account for this increased use.

By forcing large customers to pay for these upgrades through increased rates, ordinary consumers won’t have to face higher energy bills. President Donald Trump has previously summoned AI tech giants to the White House and made them promise to “pay their own way” through the “ratepayer protection plan.” However, some experts were skeptical about this move, as it doesn’t have any teeth and cannot be legally enforced.

On the other hand, Oregon’s POWER Act (HB 3546), which the state passed in April 2025, codified this into law. “HB 3546 is a simple and straightforward bill to ensure that large energy users served by investor-owned utilities pay their own way. We aren’t asking them to subsidize other users, and we aren’t challenging the tax benefits that are often associated with development. We just want their bills to reflect the true costs of their electric service,” State Representative Pam Marsh, D-Ore. (HD-5) said when it passed.

We have yet to see if other states will follow and pass similar laws that will reduce the burden on the general consumer. While this move might feel counterintuitive for data centers, as they will end up paying more in electricity costs in the long run, this would help ease the public opposition against their developments. By ensuring that the general consumer is protected from unwarranted price increases, they might be more receptive to having data center developments built near their homes.