June 9, 2025
Data centers will pay a new, likely higher rate for the massive amounts of electricity they use under House Bill 3546, known as the POWER Act, which stands for “Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility,” according to a June 9 article from Salem Statesman Journal.
The bill requires the Oregon Public Utility Commission to create a new classification for high-use customers.
Data centers currently pay an average of 8.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity in the industrial category, while residential customers pay an average of 19.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“This bill will help state regulators assign these high costs to the data centers and crypto mining entities that are consuming the energy,” said Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Southern Jackson County, a sponsor of the bill.
The bill passed in the Oregon Senate on an 18-12 vote on June 3, and the House concurred on a 37-17 vote on June 5. Gov. Tina Kotek has indicated she will sign the bill into law.
Proponents of the measure said residential customers have been paying increasingly higher rates for electricity in recent years and have essentially been subsidizing the new data centers.
There are 131 data centers in Oregon, according to datacentermap.com, the 10th most in the United States. Most are in the Portland Metro area, Central Oregon near Prineville, and Eastern Oregon near Hermiston and Boardman. A data center can use as much electricity as 50,000 homes.
Rates for residential customers have risen by about 50% in the past five years in Oregon while industrial customers pay about 25% more.
The Oregon Citizens Utility Board, a non-profit that advocates for public utilities, pointed out investor-owned utilities disconnected a record number — nearly 70,000 Oregon households and 1,989 commercial businesses — in 2024 due to non-payment.
“The bill helps protect everyday users, like families and small businesses, from paying the costs that big businesses are running up,” said Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem.
What does the Oregon POWER Act do?
The PUC regulates investor-owned utilities, including Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Idaho Power, in exchange for them receiving exclusive territories. It currently classifies residential, commercial and industrial customers.
HB 3546 directs the PUC to create a classification for large energy use facilities that purchase more 20 megawatts of power. Those are primarily data centers.
What data centers will pay will be determined by the PUC.
“We don’t know that number yet. It will probably be higher,” said Jennifer Hill-Hart, policy director for Oregon Citizens Utility Board,
“My assumption is that it will be higher because they are basically running, they have a high demand, basically always at peak. They’re constant high energy use.”
New large energy users will be required to sign a 10-year contract with utilities so they can recoup their costs for infrastructure to get power to the facilities.
“Data centers, these guys can afford it,” Hill-Hart said. “And they should pay for their own energy costs. They’re a very unique energy concern, so it makes sense.”
The bill also requires the PUC to submit a report every other year beginning Sept. 1, 2026, reviewing trends in load requirements and other implications from retail electricity consumers.
Data centers would be allowed to use renewable energy, such as from solar panels or wind turbines, something few data centers in Oregon do.
Amazon Web Services vice president Shannon Kellogg said the company purchases 200,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy from a Gilliam County wind farm.
Opponents of the bill argued the new regulations would prevent tech companies from building more data centers in Oregon and said rising energy prices were a result of monopolies, not who is using the power.
“What we’re doing in this bill is just shifting the price around so that one consumer group is going to pay for another consumer group,” said Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, who voted no on the bill.