Advocates say it could help bring down energy bills for residential ratepayers who have taken on more than their share of the cost of substantial energy use by these entities in recent years.
But a trillion-dollar corporation that owns data centers in Oregon says the bill should be expanded to all large energy users. Officials from that company — Google — suggested changes to the bill, and said they are willing to collaborate with lawmakers.
On Thursday, lawmakers from the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment held a public hearing for House Bill 3546, or the POWER Act — short for “Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility.” The bill would create a new classification for data centers, cryptocurrency and other large industrial energy users using more than 20 megawatts, or 20 million watts of power…