Hillsboro residents will save about $2 a month on their electricity bills starting July 8, after Oregon regulators approved a new rate structure that shifts more costs onto the data centers clustered across the city.

But that $2 gives back only a quarter of what PGE took in April.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission voted July 7, to raise rates on data center customers by 29.7% under the state's POWER Act, the first law in Oregon to create a dedicated rate class for the industry. Residential customers get a 1.3% decrease, commercial customers 2.1%, and other industrial users 1.4%. The new rates took effect July 8.

The math for households is less favorable than the percentage suggests. PGE raised residential rates 5% in April 2026, adding what the Hillsboro Herald estimated at roughly $8 a month to the average bill. If that estimate holds, the July cut returns about $2. Net result: the typical PGE household is still paying around $6 more per month than it was in January.

The city is home to 21 data centers, either completed or under construction, spanning roughly 470 acres, according to Axios Portland.

Major operators in PGE's territory include Flexential, Stack Infrastructure, QTS, NTT, and Digital Realty Trust, according to OregonLive.

PGE says it spent $210 million on grid infrastructure in Hillsboro alone to serve data center load, according to the Hillsboro Herald.

CEO Maria Pope disclosed in a letter to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden that industrial electricity deliveries on PGE's system grew 34.7% over five years, while residential deliveries grew just 6.4%.

Before the July 8 rate change, data centers were paying approximately 8 cents per kilowatt-hour while households paid close to 20 cents, according to Oregon's Citizens' Utility Board.

Neither PGE nor the OPUC has published what data centers will actually pay per kilowatt-hour under the new structure.

"I'm sure the data centers won't be happy with this rate hike. But it is what is right for Oregonians," said Bob Jenks, executive director of the Citizens' Utility Board.

The Data Center Coalition filed a petition asking the OPUC to reconsider. Aaron Tinjum, the coalition's vice president of energy, called the order "significantly out of step" with approaches in other states. Jenks said he expects data centers to appeal.

The rate fight comes alongside a separate legal battle over tax breaks. A lawsuit filed in Washington County Circuit Court in June 2026 by the Oregon Education Association, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair alleges the city and county improperly approved 17 enterprise zone applications for data centers in March and April, ahead of a statewide moratorium.

The plaintiffs allege the industry will receive $84 million in tax breaks in 2026 alone.

OPUC Chair Letha Tawney said the rate changes ensure data centers "pay their own way" and protect other customers from higher costs going forward. Gov. Tina Kotek has recommended new data center projects be paused until her Data Center Advisory Committee proposes reforms later in 2026.

What's next

The OPUC's order applies only to PGE. Pacific Power customers are waiting on a comparable decision, expected around November 2026.

The Data Center Coalition's petition for reconsideration is pending, though no hearing date has been set. PGE serves approximately 963,000 customers across its Oregon territory.