PORTLAND, Ore. — One of Oregon's main electricity companies, Pacific Power, has requested a 16.9% rate adjustment — roughly $304 million — to invest in wildfire risk management, transmission infrastructure and renewable projects.
If approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission, the average residential customer could see a $29.47 increase to their power bill each month.
“While our essential operating costs remain low, extreme weather events and increased wildfire risks are impacting all households and businesses, raising the costs of providing our essential services," said Matt McVee, vice president of regulatory policy and operations.
Pacific Power said the key reason the rate increase request is to integrate and invest in renewable resources and pay for costs associated with wildfires, like managing vegetation around power lines, paying higher wildfire insurance premiums and creating a "catastrophic fire fund."
Last month, an Oregon jury ordered Pacific Power's parent company, PacifiCorp, to pay $85 million to nine victims of wildfires that ravaged the state in 2020. They they were found liable in damages for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials, saying its power lines were responsible for multiple blazes.
Pacific Power has about 574,000 customers in the state, including parts of North and Northeast Portland, much of Southern Oregon, parts of the Willamette Valley, the the coast and Central and northeastern Oregon.
Following the winter storms last month, Portland General Electric (PGE), one of the state's largest electricity companies, raised its rates 17-18%.
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