Legislation passed in the Oregon Senate will shield families and small businesses from the extra utility costs brought on by huge corporate users of electricity, like data centers and cryptocurrency operations.
“Data centers play an important role in our growing technology needs in the United States, and they need to pay their fair share for infrastructure required to meet their energy needs, rather than passing the costs on to residential ratepayers,” said Senator Janeen Sollman (D – Hillsboro, Forest Grove & Rock Creek), a chief sponsor of the measure in the Senate. “Large energy users have the potential to place significant strain on the grid, especially in regions where energy capacity is already stretched thin.”
The POWER Act — Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility — sets up a separate pricing system for electricity users demanding more than 20 megawatts, roughly the same usage as a small city. The measure, also known as House Bill 3546, is a response to the tight squeeze utility bills are putting on Oregon households.
“The cost to serve certain large energy users is spilling on to other ratepayers,” said Rep. Pam Marsh (D – Southern Jackson County), a chief sponsor of the bill in the House of Representatives. “This bill will help state regulators assign these high costs to the data centers and crypto mining entities that are consuming the energy.”
Just since 2021, electric rates at some power companies have risen by nearly 50 percent and thousands of families have had the power shut off at home because they couldn’t afford the bill. At the same time, large industrial users currently pay about 2 cents a kilowatt hour while households are charged more than triple that rate.
“The bill helps protect everyday users, like families and small businesses, from paying the costs that big businesses are running up,” said Senator Deb Patterson (D – Salem), a cosponsor of HB 3546. “Household budgets are stretched far enough as they are. They shouldn’t be covering corporate costs, too.”
The measure passed the Senate in a vote of 18 to 12 and now returns to the Oregon House of Representatives for final passage.
