Oregon
Pacific Power seeks another double-digit rate increase for Oregon residents, businesses
The utility, which has some 600,000 customers in Oregon, increased rates last month by 12.9%, and 21% in 2023.
Battered by extreme weather and wildfire-related lawsuits, Pacific Power has asked state regulators to allow it to increase rates 16.9%, or about $29.47 per month on average for residential customers throughout Oregon.
If the Pacific Power rate case filed Thursday with the Oregon Public Utility Commission is approved at or near the requested 16.9% increase, it would be the third large increase in the past three years for its customers. The most recent rate increase of 12.9% took effect in January. In 2023, Pacific Power increased prices by 21% for residential customers.
“This is way too much,” said Bob Jenks, executive director of the Oregon Citizens Utility Board, a ratepayer activist group. “There’s no doubt that this is too much. Customers can’t afford this.”
Pacific Power said it is asking for the 16.9% increase to make transmission infrastructure improvements, invest in renewable energy and for wildfire risk management.
“While our essential operating costs remain low, extreme weather events and increased wildfire risks are impacting all households and businesses, raising the costs of providing our essential services,” Pacific Power Vice President Matt McVee said in a statement.
The company said it wants to increase rates for both residential and business customers to generate about $304 million.
Rates for investor-owned utilities that operate in Oregon are set by the PUC in exchange for exclusive territories. The rate cases typically take months to go through the approval process and don’t take effect until January of the following year.
Pacific Power’s coverage area in the Willamette Valley includes Dallas, Stayton, Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Junction City, Creswell and Cottage Grove.
Pacific Power, also known as PacifiCorp, is owned in majority by Berkshire Hathaway Energy whose chief executive officer is billionaire Warren Buffett.
Are Pacific Power rates going up because of wildfire settlements, verdicts?
In the last year, PacifiCorp has paid out hundreds of millions to victims of wildfires following settlements, and juries have awarded plaintiffs millions more after determining its power lines ignited numerous fires.
PacifiCorp settled with victims of the Archie Creek Fire for $299 million and faces liability over its role in the 2020 Slater Fire and 2021 McKinney Fire.
In a class action lawsuit that blames the utility for igniting four of the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, juries have awarded two groups of plaintiffs $90 million and $85 million, respectively. Additional trials are still to come.
Increased rates “do not seek recovery of any damages from the litigation or settlements,” spokesman Simon Gutierrez said. “Any recovery of costs related to litigation would be a separate rate action.”
Last year, PacifiCorp asked the PUC for permission to track costs related to wildfire litigation so it could potentially seek to recover those costs in a later rate proceeding, PUC spokeswoman Kandi Young said.
“The PUC has not taken action on the request and has made no decision on whether wildfire litigation costs may be included in rates,” Young said.
Threat of wildfires, extreme weather driving cost increase in Oregon
PacifiCorp has poured a lot of money into wildfire mitigation due to climate change and the landscape becoming more fire-prone.
The company said wildfire-related factors that were driving the increase included rapidly growing wildfire insurance premiums, wildfire mitigation, vegetation management and the creation of a catastrophic fire fund, which would create a mechanism to manage risks associated with increased wildfire activity.
Jenks said much of the rate increase request relates to wildfire-related costs, including wildfire mitigation, wildfire insurance and adding a layer of self-funded insurance.
“They’re up somewhere on $700 million of liability and they’ve got huge amounts more,” Jenks said. “That’s definitely a part of this case. That’s what’s led to their credit downgrade. That’s a significant issue of how do you deal with that.”
The company also mentioned extreme weather and extreme weather events, which have included multiple ice storms that knocked down power lines across western Oregon in 2021 and last month.
Climbing utility rates in Oregon
In December, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved an 18% rate increase for residential customers Portland General Electric, which increased utility bills on average about $24 per month.
Jenks said Portland General Electric customers have had their rates increase about 30% over the past 14 months.
Northwest Natural Gas customers saw a 25% rate increase in 2022.
And now Pacific Power is asking for another big increase.
Jenks said the utility will not get the full increase they are asking for, but “even if they get half of this, that’s a huge amount of money to put into customer rates.”
“Customers can’t afford it,” he said
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.
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Oregon
Oregon Secretary of State Griffin-Valade certifies May primary election results; 35% of voters returned ballots – KTVZ
![Oregon Secretary of State Griffin-Valade certifies May primary election results; 35% of voters returned ballots – KTVZ](https://ktvz.b-cdn.net/2024/06/Secretary-of-State-LaVonne-Griffin-Valade-certifies-May-election-6-27.jpg)
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade certified the results of the 2024 primary election on Thursday. Official election results are available on their website.
“Oregonians are voters, as proven with the success of this election,” Griffin-Valade said. “This primary election was one of the most secure in Oregon’s history, and the November general election will be the same.”
According to the statistics released Thursday by the Elections Division, final voter turnout for the primary election was about 35% of registered voters.
“My deepest gratitude goes out to all of the county clerks and elections officials across Oregon who worked tirelessly to ensure this election went smoothly,” said Secretary Griffin-Valade. “They are on the front lines making sure our democracy works, and I couldn’t be prouder of their efforts.”
For more information, visit our website: OregonVotes.gov
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Oregon
Huge clouds of smoke as wildfire in central Oregon grows rapidly
Oregon
Despite mild fire season forecast, agencies tell Oregon leaders they need to invest in workforce – Ashland News – Community-Supported, NonProfit News
![Despite mild fire season forecast, agencies tell Oregon leaders they need to invest in workforce – Ashland News – Community-Supported, NonProfit News](https://ashland.news/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/fire-Controlled-burns-U.S.-Forest-Service.jpg)
Agency officials said firefighters are hard to hire and retain, and are often left to sleep in their trucks or camp on the job due to a lack of housing
By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon is likely to face fewer big wildfires this summer than in previous years, but a lack of rural housing, coupled with unstable and often low pay, continues to create firefighter workforce challenges across the state and region.
That was a big part of the message from state and federal fire and emergency response officials, who discussed this year’s fire outlook and what they need at a meeting Monday at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. The Portland-based center is part of a larger wildfire prevention and response network that includes nine state and federal agencies.
In particular, they said they need more investment in technology — including on satellite detection — along with consistent pay increases for wildland firefighters and stable housing options. Jeff Fedrizzi, the state fire management officer for the federal Bureau of Land Management, said many wildland firefighters live out of their cars while they’re on the job.
“We have folks living in the back of their rigs. They go to work and fight fires and camp out for two weeks and then come back and camp out,” he told Oregon U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, who hosted the meeting. All three are Democrats.
The wildfire season in the Northwest can last from May through October, but typically the season is most intense from July to September. During that time, firefighters may end up fighting several big blazes at once, and that strains resources as officials share and coordinate equipment and manpower.
This year, the U.S. Forest Service has about 80% of the firefighters it needs in Oregon and Washington with 20% of jobs unfilled, according to Ed Hiatt, assistant director of operations for the regional office of the Service. He said it’s been like that for about the last six years even with a recent bonus in pay.
Federizzi and officials from the Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon State Fire Marshal and U.S. Forest Service praised the $20,000 supplemental pay bumps many wildland firefighters have received since 2021 under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but they said the pay supplement needs to be made permanent and pay scales need to be updated. The supplemental money is only authorized through September of this year while agencies wait for a new pay scale to be finalized.
Wyden, Merkley and Bonamici committed to ensuring firefighter pay will continue to go up and to vote for bills investing in rural and wildland firefighter housing.
Summer conditions
Due to a wet El Niño winter, much of the state has had lower than normal average temperatures over the last three months compared to the 30-year average according to Jon Bonk, a meteorologist at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. In central Oregon and east of the Cascades, forecasters expect that temperatures will be above average and precipitation will be below average by September. Between mid-July and September, they also said that a La Niña weather system will move over the state creating warmer, drier conditions, mostly impacting eastern Oregon and Washington.
Investing in detection
The number of cameras able to detect wildfires in the state have grown, and Oregon is likely to surpass Nevada as the state with the second most cameras in the U.S., officials said.
Electric utilities are also setting up their own cameras, according to Chris Cline, fire protection division chief at the Oregon Department of Forestry. The department is deploying a new night vision helicopter around the Medford area, according to Cline, something done in California before but new to Oregon.
Still, more money is needed for federal agencies to connect with state and local agencies and share data, said Mariana Ruiz-Temple, state fire marshal, who advocated investment in a wildfire fusion center that can bring all stakeholders together.
Hiatt told the lawmakers that inflation is driving up the cost of a lot of the equipment they need.
“We can’t keep up with the increasing costs,” he said. Some parts needed for firetrucks can’t be delivered for several years, according to Hiatt. “By the time you’re paying that bill, it costs 50% more than when you originally we’re putting in the order. We’re spending a large percentage of our preparedness budget just on equipment.”
Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post.
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