Oregon regulators just took aim at one of the most controversial industry trends in the country: the expansion of AI data centers.
According to a report from the Oregon Environmental Council, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved new rules intended to keep Portland General Electric customers from subsidizing the soaring electricity demand of massive server farms.
The commission ordered PGE to set up a separate customer class for data centers so it can measure their power use more accurately and bill those companies on that basis.
The decision follows years of rapid data center growth and rising concern that ordinary customers were being left to absorb part of the cost. According to consumer advocates involved in the case, PGE bills have climbed by nearly 50% over the past five years, with data centers serving as one of the drivers. PGE had also invested $210 million in data center expansion in just Hillsboro as of 2025, OEC noted.
The new rules add several guardrails for large energy users, including deposits for new data centers, 10- to 30-year contract terms based on facility size, penalties for using more power than agreed, and additional reporting transparency.
Large data centers will also have to cover the full long-term cost of new infrastructure built for them. For facilities using more than 100 megawatts of electricity, regulators also added a surcharge to help fund energy-efficiency upgrades for low-income households.
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For Oregon families and small businesses, the policy could help address one of the most frustrating trends in everyday life: rising power bills.
When a utility has to build expensive infrastructure to serve enormous new electricity users, those costs can spread across the wider customer base. By requiring data centers to shoulder more of their own impact, regulators can ensure the system is fairer for people who are simply trying to keep the lights on at home or run a neighborhood business.
The order also carries climate implications. New data centers can now connect to PGE's grid only when enough emissions-free electricity is available for them.
That matters because Oregon law requires PGE to provide 100% emissions-free electricity by 2040, and unchecked demand growth could make that transition more expensive for everyone else.
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These protections were made possible by Oregon's 2025 POWER Act, short for Protecting Oregonians With Energy Responsibility. The bipartisan law directed regulators to make sure large energy users, including data centers and cryptocurrency operations, pay their own way instead of passing costs on to the public.
On an Instagram post about the story, one commenter noted: "Charge them for the water too!"
PGE is the first utility to start carrying out the law. Regulators said the utility will share more details in early June about how billing rates will be affected for data centers, households, and other business customers.
"This decision is overall a win for Oregonians," said Bob Jenks, executive director of Oregon Citizens' Utility Board.
"A historic, precedent-setting win," Nora Apter, Oregon director at Climate Solutions, said. "It protects families and small businesses from rising costs, strengthens grid resilience, and helps keep Oregon on track toward a reliable, equitable, and 100% clean energy future."
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