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Oregon House votes to protect consumers from data center power costs

The Oregon House voted 41-16 on April 30, 2025, to pass HB 3546 aimed at protecting residential ratepayers from data center electricity costs.
The bill arose due to rapidly growing data center power demand, which already consumes 11% of Oregon's electricity and strains the grid.
HB 3546 enables regulators to allocate new infrastructure expenses to large energy consumers and mandates that new data centers enter into long-term power purchase agreements, lasting at least ten years, to guarantee their financial responsibility if their demand prompts the construction of additional power facilities.
Portland General Electric supplied over 1 million megawatt-hours to server farms in 2023, representing a 6,500% increase over the past decade, while the industry received more than $330 million in tax breaks last year.
The bill now proceeds to the Senate, potentially shifting costs onto large users and aiming to shield consumers from rising bills caused by expanding data center electricity demand.

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