Residents no longer have to shoulder the costs of developing the grid to accommodate these large power users.
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“These changes ensure that costs created by data centers in PGE’s territory are more accurately reflected in their rates,” PUC Chair Letha Tawney said in a statement. “By putting this structure in place now, we are getting ahead of a bigger issue, enabling responsible data centers to pay their own way, and protecting customers from higher costs in the future.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek called this move “a win for Oregonians.” “The POWER Act was intended to ensure fairness and accountability when large energy users, like data centers, take up more load on Oregon’s electrical grid,” Kotek said. “We must continue to do whatever we can to keep working families and small businesses from absorbing the costs of data center energy use.”
This is the first piece of good news to come out of electricity and data centers for residents, at least for the state of Oregon. Opposition against data centers has steadily been increasing, especially in the last few months, with more than 70% of Americans pushing back against data center developments near their communities . This is primarily driven by the massive power consumption that these projects require, leading to unprecedented price hikes in the regions they’re located in. This increase in utility costs isn’t just caused by the massive amount of electricity that data centers use, but also by the huge investments that utility companies must make to upgrade their capacity to account for this increased use.
By forcing large customers to pay for these upgrades through increased rates, ordinary consumers won’t have to face higher energy bills. President Donald Trump has previously summoned AI tech giants to the White House and made them promise to “pay their own way” through the “ratepayer protection plan.” However, some experts were skeptical about this move, as it doesn’t have any teeth and cannot be legally enforced.
On the other hand, Oregon’s POWER Act (HB 3546), which the state passed in April 2025, codified this into law. “HB 3546 is a simple and straightforward bill to ensure that large energy users served by investor-owned utilities pay their own way. We aren’t asking them to subsidize other users, and we aren’t challenging the tax benefits that are often associated with development. We just want their bills to reflect the true costs of their electric service,” State Representative Pam Marsh, D-Ore. (HD-5) said when it passed.
AI data centers trigger massive 'irreversible' 76% electricity price spike in largest US region
Virginia county asks all employees, including schools, to save power due to AI-driven electricity price hikes
Maryland citizens slapped with $2 billion grid upgrade bill for out-of-state AI data centers
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Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/power-company-hikes-data-center-bills-by-30-percent-cuts-residential-electricity-costs-by-1-3-percent-oregon-approves-change-through-power-act-pushes-developments-using-more-than-20-megawatts-of-power-to-pay-their-fair-share#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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