PGE Rate Increase 2027: 3.9% Requested, Hearing Nov. 10

Portland General Electric (PGE) is asking Oregon regulators for an overall 4.8% rate increase, which it says would raise residential bills 3.9%, or $8.33 a month for an average home using 780 kWh. If the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) approves the request as filed, new rates would take effect July 1, 2027. This is a request, not a decision, and the public can comment at a PUC hearing on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.

The case is docket UE 473. This article covers PGE customers only. For the April 2026 increases at PGE and Pacific Power, and how Oregon net metering works, see our guide to 2026 Oregon electricity rates and solar.

What PGE Is Asking For

PGE announced the rate case on July 31, 2026, and said it would file with the PUC the following week. The Citizens’ Utility Board of Oregon (CUB), a ratepayer advocate, identifies the case as docket UE 473 and says PGE “would add $65.6 million a year to bills starting July 2027.”

On its 2027 general rate case page, PGE lists these requested changes by customer class:

Source: PGE 2027 general rate case page, checked Nov. 4, 2026. All figures are PGE’s requested amounts, not approved rates.

Status: requested, not approved. PGE says new rates would take effect “July 1, 2027” only “if approved as filed.” The PUC can approve the full amount, less, or a settlement among the parties.

Why PGE Says It Needs the Increase

PGE’s page lists extreme weather straining the grid, regional growth and rising demand, changes in how customers use energy, wildfire safety work, critical system improvements and severe weather response, and rising national energy prices. It also says large users such as data centers should pay for the infrastructure they need. Data center customers saw “a nearly 30% rate increase in 2026,” according to PGE’s July 31 announcement.

PGE also says it:

• Offset the case by “approximately $25 million” through efficiency and cost cuts.
• Proposes “a limit on annual base rate increases in 2028 and 2029, with increases tied primarily to inflation.” It did not give a cap percentage.
• Provides about $75 million a year in relief to more than 108,000 customers in its Income Qualified Bill Discount program.

What Consumer Advocates Say

CUB says PGE is “requesting to go from a 9.34% profit to a 9.75% profit.” That figure is the authorized return on equity, the profit rate regulators allow on shareholder investment, not PGE’s profit margin on sales.

CUB’s executive director, Bob Jenks, told KPIC that “Affordability is a fundamental problem with PGE,” and the station reported that CUB plans to challenge the higher profit rate. Those are an advocate’s positions; the PUC will weigh them against PGE’s evidence and its own staff’s review.

How to Comment, and What Happens Next

The PUC’s pending general rate cases page lists UE 473 with “Comment via Zoom/by phone Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.” PGE’s page gives the same date and time. Join details are in the PUC’s public notice linked from that page. If you comment online, make sure you are commenting on docket UE 473, PGE’s case; on Nov. 4 the page’s comment link pointed to a different docket.

The process from here, based on PGE and KPIC’s reporting:

1. Public comment and testimony. In a typical Oregon rate case, PUC staff, CUB and other parties file testimony over the following months, and settlements are possible.
2. Decision, expected around June 2027. KPIC reported the review is expected to take about 10 months.
3. New rates July 1, 2027, if approved as filed.

Oregon’s FAIR Act (HB 3179) prevents residential rate increases from Nov. 1 to March 31, according to a PUC news release. A July 2027 start falls outside that window.

What $8.33 a Month Means for Your Bill

PGE’s $8.33 is for an average residential customer using 780 kWh a month. If your use differs, your change will too. PGE did not publish how the increase splits between the fixed monthly charge and per-kWh charges, so you cannot scale it exactly. As a rough guide only:

• $8.33 ÷ 780 kWh = about 1.07 cents per kWh averaged across that bill.
• 12 × $8.33 = about $100 a year for that average home.

Both figures are our arithmetic on PGE’s requested numbers and would change with the final decision.

This request comes after PGE’s April 1, 2026 residential increase of about 5%, which we covered on the Oregon page. KPIC also reported a roughly 1% residential reduction in summer 2026 tied to Oregon’s POWER Act. We did not confirm that reduction in a PGE or PUC document.

What It Means for Solar Owners and Shoppers

PGE offers net metering: power your panels send to the grid offsets power you take from it, with kWh credits carried month to month and unused credits donated each March. Under that setup, each solar kWh is worth about what you pay per kWh, so a higher per-kWh rate makes solar slightly more valuable. A fixed monthly charge is the part panels can’t reduce; see how fixed charges limit solar savings.

For a household weighing solar, a 3.9% average increase is not a reason by itself to buy. Size the system to your annual use, because surplus credits do not pay out, and run the numbers on today’s rates. Our solar payback guide shows how.

Pacific Power, Oregon’s other large investor-owned utility, is in a separate case. See our Pacific Power 2027 report.

Limitations

• All rate figures are PGE’s request. The final amount, residential share and start date may change.
• PGE’s page does not give the filing date or docket number; the docket number UE 473 comes from CUB and the PUC’s pending cases page.
• The $65.6 million figure is from CUB; PGE’s page gives percentages only.
• The summer 2026 decrease is from a news report and is marked Qualified below.

Sources and Verification

Checked Nov. 4, 2026.