The commission held a hearing on the proposal Tuesday. PGE, Oregon's largest electric utility, asked regulators this summer to raise residential electricity rates by 3.9% next year as part of an overall 4.8% increase that would generate about $179 million in additional annual revenue. For the typical household, that works out to roughly $8 more per month, bringing the average bill to about $178.

If approved, the increase would take effect in July 2027. It would mark PGE's eighth consecutive year seeking higher rates, though the proposed hike is the smallest in five years. Over the past decade, the utility's rates have climbed about 65%, roughly twice the rate of inflation.

Many of the comments focused on the cumulative burden of those increases. Jessica Reese, a Portland resident, said she earns a decent income but already devotes a sizable share of her paycheck to power bills.

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

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

"Your customers are scraping by," she wrote. "Find the money for infrastructure somewhere else."

Several customers said they understood the need for upgrades but questioned why households keep being asked to absorb the costs. A few said the relentless rise in utility bills and other living expenses has them considering leaving the Portland area.

PGE spokesperson Drew Hanson said the utility 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 company says the money would go toward poles, meters, distribution equipment and transmission lines aimed at reducing outages and improving reliability.

Charlotte Shuff, a spokesperson for the Oregon Citizens' Utility Board, a ratepayer advocacy group, blamed the utility's spending decisions for the pressure on household budgets.

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

The proposal also would raise rates for large data centers by nearly 8%, about twice the residential increase. That follows a change in July, when PGE lowered residential rates by 1.3% and raised data center rates by nearly 30% under a new state law designed to make data centers pay more of the cost of serving them. Shuff said CUB is still examining whether households are being asked to shoulder too much of the burden.

PGE serves more than 950,000 customers across Oregon, including much of the Portland metro area and parts of the Willamette Valley.

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