Public hearing – March 7
Sponsors: Marsh, Owens, Grayber
Includes -3 Amendment
The surge in electricity demand from large data centers is negatively impacting other electricity consumers, who are already beginning to pay higher rates. Under current electricity pricing approaches, for-profit public utilities like PGE and PacifiCorp (“electric companies”) have an incentive to preferentially serve data centers. This is because their need for a great deal of power incentivizes the utilities to engage in profit-making buildout of more electric power plants. Other
electricity consumers may in turn be charged higher rates – while the benefit of the new infrastructure built on their money goes mainly to the big data centers.
This bill provides a corrective to this damaging and unfair new dynamic in electricity markets. Under this bill, Oregon’s Public Utility Commission (OPUC) has to establish a new classification of electricity service for big data centers that use 20 MW or more power, which will include specific tariffs. These tariffs will allocate the costs of serving big data centers to the centers themselves. These costs include transmission, distribution, energy, capacity, and ancillary
services.
The new tariff schedule for big data centers also requires the electric companies to mitigate the risks to other consumers. The electric companies’ servicing of the data centers is expensive. Under this part of the bill, current ratepayers will not be on the hook for paying those added costs.
The bill also requires electric companies to enter into contracts of at least 10 years duration with big data centers. The contracts must cover the provision of electricity services to the big data centers. They must also require data centers to pay minimum amounts based on their electricity usage, which may include further charges for excess demand.
OPUC is required to file a report no later than September 1 of each even-numbered year, reviewing trends in electricity demand from big data centers. The report may include recommendations for further legislation.