PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Portland General Electric (PGE) has filed for regulatory approval of new electricity rates that would increase costs for large data centers while lowering rates for residential and small business customers, the utility announced Wednesday.

The proposed changes, filed under Oregon’s POWER Act regulatory framework, are scheduled to take effect June 10 pending review and approval by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC).

Under the proposal, rates for large-load data center customers would increase 29%. Residential customers would see a 1.3% decrease in rates, while small business customers would get a 3.7% reduction. Commercial customers would see a 2.2% decline and industrial customers would get a 1.5% decrease.

The filing follows a May 7 decision by OPUC approving PGE’s implementation of the POWER Act. making it the first utility in Oregon to establish a desperate customer class for data centers and adopt a framework designed to allocate infrastructure costs based on growth-related demand.

PGE said the new structure is intended to ensure customers driving increased electricity costs bear the costs associated with new infrastructure investments.

“Oregon is building a modern regulatory framework that supports responsible growth while keeping customer affordability front and center,” said John McFarland, Chief Customer Officer at PGE. “As energy demand from large-energy users grows, this approach helps ensure the costs of new infrastructure are paid by the customers driving that growth.”

The commission also authorized more measures aimed at managing data center growth, including exit fees, minimum charges and special contracts intended to support clean energy development.

The proposed rate changes remain subject to regulatory review and approval by OPUC.

SANTAQUIN — A mother is accused of leaving her young child in a hot car in 2019, resulting in the toddler’s death.

Amy Kay Bethers, 29, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony.

On Aug. 13, 2019, about 5:45 p.m., Bethers brought her 6-month-old son – identified in court documents only as W.T. – to Mountain View Hospital. An obituary identifies the toddler as Wade Ron Taylor.

The boy’s “jaw was locked tight in the onset of rigor mortis, he was warm to the touch, he had sloughing of the skin on his scalp, face, ear and chest, his skin was discolored and mottled, and (his) eyes were open with dryness over the cornea and fixated pupils,” according to charging documents. The toddler’s body temperature was recorded at 109.8 degrees Fahrenheit and he was pronounced deceased about 6:15 p.m.

Doctors “believed that W.T.’s death was probably related to being in a hot environment for too long,” the charges state.

Bethers told police she was driving with her child to a storage unit in Santaquin “when she noticed W.T. was not as ‘wiggly and chattery’ as usual, so she ‘rolled down the windows some more’ and turned around to go home,” according to the charges.

Bethers told police she noticed he was “getting discolored” and his lips turning purple, “and he started ‘getting stiff’ and drooling,” the charges state.

She told investigators that she had been driving for two to three hours and her vehicle did not have air conditioning. Temperatures that day reached about 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

W.T.’s “immediate cause of death was hyperthermia,” but the manner “‘could not be determined’ because her findings from the autopsy were not consistent with Bether’s accounting of events,” according to the charges.

A doctor later concluded “that under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 25 mph, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 50-70 minutes; under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 45 mph, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 70-150 minutes; under conditions where both windows were up and the vehicle was traveling 65 mph, there would be little to no change in W.T.’s temperature during anytime of the day. (The doctor) concluded that under conditions where the vehicle was parked in the sun and both windows were closed, W.T.’s temperature could reach 109.8 degrees in 40-50 minutes; under conditions where the vehicle was parked in the shade and both windows were closed, there would be no change in W.T.’s temperature,” the charges state.

Court documents do not explain why it took several years to follow up on the charges.

Washington Nationals slugger, James Wood, doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

But he’s turning heads. Opponents fear him. Fans love to watch him play.

The left-handed hitting Wood, only 23, is a clear 5-tool Major League Baseball player. He won’t turn 24 until September 17.

Wood hits for power, has a respectable batting average, has excellent speed, plays good defense, and has a strong throwing arm. Five tools.

Wood is getting every inch of power from his large, 6-6, 234 pound frame.

Not only has Wood hit 16 home rus so far this season, and he has walked 51 times in his 294 plate appearances.

At the start of play Friday June 5, Wood has compiled a very impressive stat line of .264.401.527/.929.

The Nationals have surprised plenty of MLB teams with their consistent power display, their excellent hard contact and extra base hit skills, and their overall offensive performance.

James Wood is a special player for the Washington Nationals.

It would not be out of question to see the Nationals claim a spot in the competitive National League playoffs.

Wood is clearly the leader of the surging Nationals.