Salem, Oregon – For nearly one million Oregon homes and businesses, a new electricity pricing law is beginning to show up in a simple place: the monthly power bill.
The contrast is striking. Residential customers in Portland General Electric territory are seeing rates fall by an average of 1.3%, while data centers are paying about 29% more under Oregon’s Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility, or POWER, Act.
Gov. Tina Kotek signed the legislation in 2025 with the goal of preventing households and ordinary businesses from absorbing electricity costs tied to rapidly expanding data centers and other major power users.
According to a biennial report the Oregon Public Utility Commission transmitted to lawmakers, implementation has reduced the burden on approximately 858,000 residential customers and about 105,000 commercial and industrial PGE customers.
“Oregon households and businesses shouldn’t be asked to foot the bill for data center corporations,” Kotek said.
“The POWER Act is working as intended, with data centers on track to pay their fair share of electricity costs.”
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The issue is becoming more pressing as data centers consume a growing share of available electricity. The report says their energy load has increased at an average rate of roughly 36% annually since 2021 and is projected to grow about 14% per year through 2030.
Pacific Power’s review of POWER Act implementation is expected to finish later this year. Idaho Power is also covered by the law, although it currently has no large-load data centers.
Kotek said the latest findings also strengthen the case for additional action.
“This report shows this new law is critical for holding data centers accountable. Additionally, it renews the urgency to consider legislation next year to require data centers to do more to produce their own renewable energy to take demand off the grid.”
The administration has already moved beyond electricity rates. In August, Kotek terminated a state contract involving about 32 acres at Salem’s Mill Creek Corporate Center that had been proposed for a data center. She has also backed moratoriums on new construction while statewide safeguards are developed.
Earlier this year, Kotek convened the Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee to develop recommendations covering electricity costs, clean energy, labor standards, economic development and environmental impacts.
The full state report provides additional details on the POWER Act’s impact.
