Oregon Raises Data Center Power Rates by 29 Percent

The Oregon Public Utility Commission unanimously approved a new electricity tariff on July 8, 2026, that increases power rates for large data centers by an average of 29 percent. The decision follows a request from Portland General Electric to implement the mandates of the POWER Act, a bipartisan law passed by the Oregon Legislature in June 2025.

The rate hike targets power-intensive facilities, specifically impacting companies such as Amazon, Meta, Google, QTS, Flexential, Aligned Data Centers, Stack Infrastructure, NTT, and Digital Realty, many of which are clustered in Hillsboro. The legislation ensures that data centers pay their share of grid infrastructure costs rather than shifting those expenses to other users. Consequently, residential rates will decrease by an average of 1.3 percent, saving the average household approximately $1.91 per billing cycle. Commercial rates will drop by 2.1 percent and other industrial rates by 1.4 percent.

Bob Jenks of the Citizens' Utility Board estimates that non-data center customers will save $900 million over 30 years, although he anticipates legal challenges from the impacted companies. State Senator Janeen Sollman, a co-sponsor of the act, described the move as a win for ratepayers and noted that other states are considering similar legislation to address the nationwide issue of data center power demands.