Portland General Electric and Pacific Power say their latest proposed rate increases are due to the rising cost of insurance and needed investments to expand electrical grids and make them resilient to extreme weather. (Robert Zullo/States Newsroom)
If the state’s two largest electric utilities get what they’ve asked for, their 1.5 million customers in Oregon could pay 40% more for electricity next year than they did just three years ago.
Those utilities – Portland General Electric, or PGE, and Pacific Power – say their latest proposed increases are due to the rising cost of insurance and needed investments to expand electrical grids and make them resilient to extreme weather. But Oregon’s Citizens’ Utility Board, a watchdog group established by voters in 1984 to represent the interests of consumers, says the companies are using rate hikes to make massive investments in infrastructure in too short a period, as well as creating slush funds for potential wildfire payouts in the future.