Pacific Power, which serves over 620,000 customers in Oregon, will issue a nearly 10% rate increase starting Jan. 1. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced Dec. 19 that it approved an overall increase of 8.5% for all customer types, including residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The 2025 rate changes will also include an annual adjustment for forecasted power purchase costs, along with other rate increases, resulting in an expected 9.8% overall increase for residential customers. According to a press release, PacifiCorp (Pacific Power’s parent company) initially requested a 17.9% increase.

Reasons for the increase, stated in the press release, include investments in transmission, generation and other infrastructure, along with wildfire-related cost increases. According to the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB), a utility watchdog, Thursday’s decision marks a nearly 50% rate increase since 2021.

“This year, Pacific Power shut off more Oregon families than ever recorded because bills were unaffordable,” Bob Jenks, Executive Director of Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, wrote in a statement. “We need strong, lasting protections to make sure no one goes without heating, refrigeration, or medical devices. We cannot have our essential services, like electricity, rising to luxury prices.”

The CUB requested a 10% cap on utility rate increases. While regulators rejected this proposal, the PUC adopted protections for vulnerable populations, including requiring PacifiCorp to offer higher bill discounts and emergency help on past due balances to the lowest income customers.

According to reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting, the federal government filed a lawsuit against PacifiCorp on Dec. 19 over a 2020 wildfire in Douglas County. The PUC will review PacifiCorp’s compliance filing before the rate changes become effective on Jan. 1.

This article appears in Source Weekly December 19, 2024.

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Pacific Power Set to Increase Rate Nearly 10% in 2025

by Julianna LaFollette, The Source - Bend, Oregon
December 19, 2024

<h1>Pacific Power Set to Increase Rate Nearly 10% in 2025</h1> <p class="byline">by Julianna LaFollette, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />December 19, 2024</p> <p><span class="fdnDropCap">P</span>acific Power, which serves over 620,000 customers in Oregon, will issue a nearly 10% rate increase starting Jan. 1. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced Dec. 19 that it approved an overall increase of 8.5% for all customer types, including residential, commercial and industrial customers.</p> <p>The 2025 rate changes will also include an annual adjustment for forecasted power purchase costs, along with other rate increases, resulting in an expected 9.8% overall increase for residential customers. According to a press release, PacifiCorp (Pacific Power's parent company) initially requested a 17.9% increase.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full aligncenter aligncenter"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pexels-padrinan-230518-scaled.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pexels-padrinan-230518-scaled.webp" alt="Metal power line towers set against blue sky." class="wp-image-2677" /></a></figure> <p> Reasons for the increase, stated in the press release, include investments in transmission, generation and other infrastructure, along with wildfire-related cost increases. According to the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board (CUB), a utility watchdog, Thursday's decision marks a nearly 50% rate increase since 2021.</p> <p>“This year, Pacific Power shut off more Oregon families than ever recorded because bills were unaffordable,” Bob Jenks, Executive Director of Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, wrote in a statement. “We need strong, lasting protections to make sure no one goes without heating, refrigeration, or medical devices. We cannot have our essential services, like electricity, rising to luxury prices.” </p> <p> The CUB requested a 10% cap on utility rate increases. While regulators rejected this proposal, the PUC adopted protections for vulnerable populations, including requiring PacifiCorp to offer higher bill discounts and emergency help on past due balances to the lowest income customers.</p> <p>According to reporting from <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/12/19/federal-government-sues-pacificorp-over-2020-oregon-wildfire-as-the-costs-of-fires-to-the-company-climb/" target="_blank">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a>, the federal government filed a lawsuit against PacifiCorp on Dec. 19 over a 2020 wildfire in Douglas County. <span>The PUC will review PacifiCorp's compliance filing before the rate changes become effective on Jan. 1.</span></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/pacific-power-set-to-increase-rate-nearly-10-in-2025-22376533/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=2676&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/pacific-power-set-to-increase-rate-nearly-10-in-2025-22376533/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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