Oregon Orders Data Centers to Pay More for Power Under New PGE Rate Overhaul

Oregon-based data centers will pay more for power following an instruction to Portland General Electric (PGE) issued by the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC).

PGE Has Until June 10 to Implement the New Tariffs

PUC has given PGE until June 10 to implement the new data center rates.

The overhaul includes penalties and surcharges to ensure that data centers pay the cost for what they create. PUC has also set higher minimum payments to cover the cost of additional power generation and transmission lines to serve power-hungry data centers.

PUC Has Imposed a 1-Cent Per Kilowatt-Hour Surcharge on Mega Data Centers

Furthermore, PUC has imposed a 1-cent-per-kilowatt-hour surcharge on mega data centers. That income will be used for energy efficiency repairs and local energy generation – rooftop solar.

Residential consumers are already subject to a similar surcharge for energy efficiency programs and clean energy.

Data centers are the largest consumers of power in the state, and the overhaul of existing rates will ensure that they pay a bigger share of long-term costs.

Data centers will now also be responsible for paying for power plants and transmission lines built to serve their consumption requirements for as long as required.

This is the First Implementation of the Oregon Power Act

The ruling is the first implementation of the landmark Oregon Power Act passed last year to prevent large data centers from offloading power plant costs and transmission upgrades onto other consumers.

The Power Act applies to both PGE and PacifiCorp, Oregon’s investor-owned utilities.

PGE has been given until June 3 to set and file the new rates, and until June 10 to implement. All parties will be given 60 days in which to appeal the Commission’s decision, after which the order can be referred to the Oregon Court of Appeals.