Electric bills for many in Salem could go up next year due to a Portland General Electric rate increase — but not as much as the utility provider requested.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission issued a decision Friday approving a rate increase of about 3.3% to take effect Jan. 1. The company serves about 930,000 customers in Oregon.
The approved rate is a marked departure from the 7.4% increase requested by PGE and the upped request of 10.9% made in August.
When combining the general rate increase with other adjustments, overall rates for residential customers will increase by about 5.5% starting next year.
The announcement follows the commission’s decision Thursday approving a rate increase of about 8.5% for Pacific Power customers, cutting the utilities’ proposed rate increase by nearly half.
Commission officials said Friday’s decision significantly reins in the utility’s requested growth in expenses.
“As regulators, our job is to look out for customers,” Oregon Public Utility Commission Chair Megan Decker said. “We know that rate increases are difficult for Oregonians, and we only approve them after independently scrutinizing the facts and concluding that increasing rates is necessary to preserve customers’ long-term interests in safe and reliable utility service.”