Oregon Regulators Just Sent Data Centers a Hefty Bill

Data centers in Portland General Electric's territory are about to see their power bills spike. Oregon regulators on Tuesday signed off on PGE's plan to hike rates for those large users by nearly 30% starting Wednesday, reports the Oregonian, a move tied to the state's new POWER Act. The law is designed to shift more of the cost of meeting surging electricity demand onto big industrial customers instead of households and mom-and-pop shops. The move was passed unanimously by the Oregon Public Utility Commission, reports Oregon Public Broadcasting, which calls it a "landmark law."

Residential customers will see their bills dip by about 1.3%, with small businesses also getting modest relief. The steepest impact will fall on data centers clustered in Hillsboro, including facilities run by Flexential, Stack Infrastructure, QTS, NTT, and Digital Realty. A challenge is expected: a state utility watchdog says operators are likely to appeal the increase.