Utility rates up 50%. Here’s why

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation,

Oregon electricity rates have climbed 50% since 2021.

Electricity rate spike caused by the government.

The politicians have closed down Oregon’s only coal plant and a hydroelectric dam that had served nearly 100,000 homes with cheap, reliable power.  At the same time, politicians were reducing the supply of electricity (by eliminating coal and hydro) they were dramatically increasing demand.  They increased demand by spending nearly a quarter-billion of tax dollars on tax giveaways for people to buy expensive electric vehicles and build charging stations.  The surge in EV vehicles drained our energy grid.

Politicians also gave away billions in tax breaks to Big Tech companies to build data centers in Oregon.

These data centers consume an enormous amount of electricity to operate.  In 2022, Oregon handed away $400 million in tax breaks to tech companies.  In essence, Oregon used our very own tax dollars to pay private corporations to steal our shrinking electrical supply away from us.

The costly Oregon Renewable Portfolio Standard law mandates utilities to use a certain percentage of solar and wind power, which is more expensive.   Because wind and solar routinely experience drops in output (cloudy days, low wind, storms), utilities must spend a significant amount of money re-adjusting the power grid to compensate for the power drops and avoid disruptions.  This factor ultimately renders wind and solar power less reliable and significantly more expensive.   Therefore, the Renewable Portfolio mandate is a government mandate that makes our electricity grid less reliable and more costly. This is also why Oregon is projecting more blackouts as our available energy supply shrinks.  The end result is that you’re getting higher electric bills, less grid reliability and more blackouts.