The Oregon Public Utility Commission has approved temporary rules to protect low-income residential customers from power disconnections during high summer heat.

The ban starts this month and runs through October and is meant to ensure Oregonians – including those who rely on medical devices – can safely cope with extreme temperatures. The protections stem from a bill passed in 2021, dubbed the Energy Affordability Act, which required the commission to adopt measures to reduce the burden of high electricity costs for Oregonians.

Under the new rules, all investor-owned electric utilities – Portland General Electric, PacifiCorp and Idaho Power – are prohibited from disconnecting service due to non-payment during major heat waves.

The rules apply when the National Weather Service or another local jurisdiction issues a heat advisory or extreme heat watch or warning or when a local air quality alert is issued.

Customers also are protected in the 24 hours before a qualifying hot spell and in the 48 hours after. They’re also protected 24 hours after an air quality alert has been issued.

Customers whose utility services were disconnected up to seven days before a heat event can request to be reconnected without delay once the extreme weather begins.

Typically, utilities can charge a reconnection fee and require customers to pay at least a portion of their past due bills before reconnecting them. But the new rules waive upfront reconnection fees for medical certificate account holders and discount program participants earning less than 10% of state median income. (Once the heat wave is over, customers are still responsible for paying their past due bills and reconnection fees).

The new rules also require utilities to inform customers about the protections so they can quickly get service reconnected.

The commission is poised to adopt permanent rules by the end of next year.

Customer advocates hailed the rules in the wake of the state’s first high heat event earlier this week.

“This past weekend, we saw record-breaking heat that threatened the health and safety of our seniors, neighbors with disabilities, and families. These new protections mean that no one will be left at home in danger without electricity simply because their energy bills are too expensive,” said Charlotte Shuff, a spokesperson for the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, a nonprofit organization that advocates for utility customers and supported the measures.

— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.