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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A brand new announcement from Portland Common Electrical might have you ever desirous to dim the lights.
On Thursday, the utility firm filed a request for a 7.4% rate increase in 2025. In response to a current publish on social media, the proposed improve would help “investments in native battery vitality storage programs to boost reliability and adaptability, and different system upgrades.”
This comes after the Oregon Public Utility Fee authorized an estimated fee improve of roughly 17% this year for PGE clients.
The request now falls within the palms of the utility fee, which can conduct a 10-month evaluate together with buyer testimonies, hearings and a monetary evaluation.
PGE just lately expanded its income-based discount program which can provide 60% reductions to 85,000 eligible clients. The Earnings-Certified Invoice Low cost program was beforehand capped at 25% when this system launched in 2022.
Program eligibility relies on family measurement and common annual gross revenue. Since 2022, this system has grown by 65%, with over 75,000 clients at the moment enrolled, PGE stated.
Information of the speed hike request comes after PGE suffered a $30 million loss from the January 2024 ice storm that led to 165,000 energy outages directly and greater than half 1,000,000 complete all through the week-long storm.
After the ice storm, Bob Jenks of the Oregon Citizen Utility Board advised KOIN 6 he took problem with the 2 fee will increase PGE has placed on its clients since 2022. He calculated that it was a 30% complete improve in that point.
“What actually must occur proper now’s a deal with serving to clients handle the speed will increase that already occurred, not in search of methods to have extra fee will increase,” he stated.
