PORTLAND, Oregon — Oregon utility regulatory staff lawyers cast doubt on a bid by the state's residential ratepayer advocate to derail a Portland General Electric 2025 rate increase proposal before fuller consideration by the Public Utility Commission.
PUC staff said they "did not disagree with sentiments underlying" the Citizens' Utility Board's motion to dismiss PGE's general rate case. But the case, though still in its early stages, had moved to a point that requires a hearing as a contested case under provisions of the administrative lawmaking process, they said.
The legal opinion was among formal responses to CUB's motion to dismiss the rate case, which PGE filed at the end of February. CUB itself has called its motion "unprecedented."
The typical general rate case is analyzed, argued and negotiated by the utility and stakeholders over 10 months. The three-person, governor-appointed commission ultimately decides rates, often by approving stipulations reached by the parties.
Another rate increase request
PGE is asking for a 7.4% overall average rate increase in 2025, 7.2% for the residential customers that CUB represents. It would come on the heels of an 18% average increase that hit PGE residential customers in January, with an expected 2.7% boost for wildfire mitigation costs still due to kick in this July.
Rising utility prices — not restricted to PGE — have sparked debate about how regulators should respond as the utilities ratchet up their spending to address rising demand, decarbonization mandates, transmission needs and climate-related resiliency issues.
The Portland Business Journal, a KGW news partner, has more on the request here.
