Oregon raises electricity rates by 29.7% for data centers and cuts residential electricity rates by 1.3%.
👉 Ireland / elsewhere please take note (!)
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/07/oregon-data-center-general-electric-rate-hikes/
bet somehow the data centres will still manage not to pay it though.
@Thebratdragon
Sign, FF/FG in Ireland are beholden to big tech tax revenue
There ya go. Niiiice.
@Natasha_Jay #Germany should do the same and only allow massive consumers under #LoadShedding agreements and ban local powerplants next to them!
Jul 9, 2026, 5:47 PM@Natasha_Jay EXCELLENT.
More of this please, and everywhere!!
@Natasha_Jay commercial electricity rates are always less then residential rates. Most times when I've compared them commercial rates were about half the rate we pay for. our homes.
@Natasha_Jay We seriously need something like this in Nevada. Datacenters suck down 22% of all the electricity used here.
@Natasha_Jay Oh ye of little faith: watch the bipolar #duopoly swing their magic!
@Natasha_Jay Also Michigan/DTE
@Natasha_Jay Will private fossil fuel generators be regulated?
@Natasha_Jay Ohioans were just told that our rates will increase 17% because of increasing demand from data centers. Residents are subsidizing these parasites
@Natasha_Jay originally from Oregon here. Normally Intel, Nike, and Google would team up to keep this bill from happening. They don't say anything about the water usage or the continuous impact that will have on the treaties, and fish runs in that area. The salmon have been dealing with a lot already, just to see Portland General Electric make even more money. Without actually addressing the issue of the environmental and such impacts.
@Natasha_Jay
In the UK, I heard there wasn't enough BIG industry (steel works, foundries, chemical plants etc) that could be paid to go offline during high demand to preserve the infrastructure ... but there might be AI data centres...
Just a thought:
Everyone affected, DO NOT PAY YOUR ELECTRIC BILL, SEND IT TO THE DATA CENTER.
@Natasha_Jay this is the kind of thing that has "unintended consequences" written all over it. Neither big tech or the utilities are going to give up that easily
Jul 9, 2026, 9:35 PM@Natasha_Jay
The utility commission in California is so corrupt (they actually removed a commissioner that was a whistle blower) they raised rates several times, the reason for one increase that was approved - PG&E’s profits weren’t high enough to attract investors. WTF? (Note: the Governor is responsible for appointing the commissioners)
@Natasha_Jay this is a good start.
New data center construction should also be required to pay an initial fee sufficient to build clean generation and transmission infrastructure equal to 2x their anticipated energy consumption. The new generation must come online before the data center gets one watt. Also, no on site power generation that consumes fuel or emits pollution (solar, wind, ok).
Then we start discussions about water use, noise, disposal of old hardware, property taxes, etc…
@Natasha_Jay we spend so much on electricity here in Oregon (probably like everywhere else). This was so delightful to hear on NPR. We need this break.
Jul 9, 2026, 11:33 PMPrice them out of existence
would've done better to demolish them.
@Natasha_Jay Watch FERC issue a rule preempting the Oregon law. They're already forcing regional transmission organizations to revamp the rules for grid connections to make it easier for big data centers to attach (and aluminum smelters, I guess, but that's not a growing sector).
@Natasha_Jay Well done Oregon!!!
@Natasha_Jay FALSE Oregon's Public Utility Commission allowed ONE shareholder-owned utility, PGE, to alter its rates. Other utilities, public & private, in the state (e.g. Berkshire Hathaway's Pacific Power) have NOT altered their rates yet to comply with Oregon's POWER Act which requires data centers & large commercial users to pay their share.
@Natasha_Jay that is how you do it.