The commission held a public hearing on the request Tuesday. PGE asked regulators this summer to raise residential electricity rates by 3.9% next year as part of an overall 4.8% rate increase that would generate about $179 million in additional annual revenue. Residential customers would pay roughly $8 more per month on average, bringing the typical bill to $178.

Jessica Reese, a Portland resident, told regulators she earns a decent salary but already spends a significant share of her paycheck on energy bills.

"How many more small increases until I can no longer afford electricity?" she wrote.

Sara Nokes said she works full time and earned $60,000 last year, but still lives paycheck to paycheck, struggling with grocery bills and buying gasoline in small amounts so she can afford her commute. She said another $8 a month might not sound like much.

"Your customers are barely surviving," she wrote. "Find the money for infrastructure somewhere else."

PGE, the state's largest electric utility, says it needs the money to modernize poles, meters, distribution equipment and transmission lines to reduce outages and improve reliability. The proposal would take effect in July 2027 if approved. It is the eighth consecutive year PGE has sought higher rates, though the proposed increase is the smallest in five years. PGE rates have risen about 65% over the past decade, nearly double the rate of inflation.

Some customers said they understood the need for improvements but questioned why households keep being asked to pay more. A few said relentless increases in utility bills and other living costs have them thinking about leaving Portland.

PGE spokesperson Drew Hanson said the company recognizes affordability is a concern but needs to invest in upgrades to "keep the grid reliable and ready for Oregon's growing energy needs." The utility serves more than 950,000 customers in Oregon, including much of the Portland metropolitan area and parts of the Willamette Valley.

Charlotte Shuff, a spokesperson for the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board, a ratepayer advocacy group, blamed PGE's spending decisions for the rising bills.

"We've been saying for years that PGE has a spending problem," Shuff said. "They've really embraced this 'all of the above' approach to investments, and that has created a pretty big affordability problem for customers."

PGE wants to raise rates by nearly 8% for large data centers, almost double the residential increase. That follows a change in July, when PGE cut residential rates by 1.3% and raised data center rates by nearly 30% under a new state law meant to make data centers pay a larger share of the costs of serving them.

Still, Shuff said the CUB is investigating whether PGE is asking households to pay too much.

The commission is expected to decide in June 2027 how much of PGE's request to approve. Customers can still submit comments by email to puc.publiccomments@puc.oregon.gov or through the state portal under docket UE 473.