If you're trying to pin down Pacific Power electricity rates in Oregon for 2026, there isn't one perfect cents-per-kWh answer. A Pacific Power bill combines a basic monthly charge, delivery and supply charges, and power-cost and renewable adjustments. It also includes public-purpose charges, a federal hydropower credit and other approved riders (extra line-item charges). Pacific Power also offers an optional Time of Use plan where the price changes a lot depending on when you use electricity.
On top of that, 2026 brought an increase in April, a decrease in May and a new rate case for 2027. So the more useful question is: what is the effective rate on your actual bill, and what part of it can you change?
What Is Pacific Power's Standard Residential Rate?
Pacific Power's standard Oregon residential tariff is Schedule 4 — Residential Service. Its combined delivery-and-supply energy rate is 14.499¢/kWh as of April 1, 2026.
That number is before adjustments. It doesn't include the System Benefits Charge, the Public Purpose Charge or the federal BPA credit. So 14.499¢ is not the all-in price you pay per kWh.
The Basic Charge Is $14 for a Single-Family Home
Schedule 4 also includes a fixed monthly basic charge: $14.00 for a single-family home and $8.00 for a multi-family home. You pay it no matter how little electricity you use, which is why lower-use homes tend to have a higher effective cost per kWh.
What Makes Up the 14.499¢?
The energy rate in effect in April 2026 has two parts:
- Delivery: 6.937¢/kWh, covering things like distribution, transmission, wildfire-related costs and other deferred adjustments
- Supply: 7.562¢/kWh, covering base power supply, renewable adjustments and power-cost adjustments
Together they add up to 14.499¢. That's why one simple “generation rate” never explains the whole bill.
The Adjustments Come Next
Several more charges and credits are layered on top of the Schedule 4 rate:
- System Benefits Charge: an added per-kWh charge
- Public Purpose Charge: 1.5% of the bill
- BPA residential exchange credit: −1.331¢/kWh on the first 2,000 kWh each month
Other approved riders, local fees and taxes can also apply. For example, 900 kWh at 14.499¢ comes to about $130.49, or $144.49 with the $14 basic charge. Your real bill will differ once the adjustments, the BPA credit and everything else are applied.
How to Find Your Real Effective Rate
The simplest method is to divide your total electric charges by your total kWh. If your bill is $172 for 900 kWh, your effective rate is about 19.1¢/kWh. That number captures the fixed charge, energy, riders, credits and taxes much better than any single line on a rate sheet. It's the number to use when you compare solar, HVAC or battery savings.
Pacific Power Rates in 2026: The Timeline
Pacific Power's typical bill moved several times this year:
- January 1: The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) estimated a typical 900-kWh bill at $153.28, down $0.96 (about 0.7%).
- April 1: A package of adjustments raised the typical residential bill about $4.29 a month, or 2.9%.
- May 1: A prior regulatory adjustment ended, lowering the typical bill about $4.03 a month.
For a typical customer, May's decrease offset nearly all of April's increase, leaving a net change of roughly 26 cents a month. So a January bill isn't a reliable stand-in for a fall bill, and comparing March, April and May isn't comparing the same tariff.
What Caused the April Increase?
April wasn't one big base-rate hike. It combined several smaller items:
- The true-up of actual 2024 power costs under the Power Cost Adjustment Mechanism
- The Renewable Adjustment Clause
- An update to the low-income assistance fund
- Energy Trust of Oregon funding
You may have seen a higher figure of $5.64 a month (4.1%). That applies only to Albany customers, whose bills also include a city-required undergrounding project. For most Pacific Power customers, the PUC's corrected figure is $4.29.
Why Changes Land in April
Oregon's FAIR Act (HB 3179, 2025) bars residential rate increases at investor-owned utilities from taking effect between November 1 and March 31. Increases have to take effect by October 31 or wait until April 1. That's why Pacific Power's 2026 increase arrived in spring, and why the proposed 2027 increase is also aimed at April.
Compare kWh Before Comparing Dollars
Suppose August 2025 was 800 kWh and $145, and August 2026 was 1,150 kWh and $220. The bill rose $75, but usage rose about 44%. That points at the house: air conditioning, a heat pump, electric water heating, an EV or a change in who lives there.
If usage barely moved (say 900 kWh to 910 kWh) but the bill rose noticeably, that's much more likely a price problem: rate adjustments, power costs or other riders.
Pacific Power's Time of Use Option
Pacific Power offers an optional Time of Use plan within Schedule 4. The on-peak window is 5–9 p.m. every day, weekends included, and all other hours are off-peak. Current prices:
- On-peak: 28.769¢/kWh
- Off-peak: 10.709¢/kWh
Like the standard rate, those prices come before the other adjustments. Even so, the peak price is about 2.7 times the off-peak price.
Example: Charging an EV
Suppose an EV needs 30 kWh. Charged on-peak, that's about $8.63. Charged off-peak, it's about $3.21. That's a difference of roughly $5.42 for the same energy, and it adds up quickly if you charge several times a week.
The Commitment and the First-Year Guarantee
Time of Use requires a 12-month commitment, so it isn't something to try for one summer month and drop. Pacific Power does limit the downside: during your first year, you won't pay more than 10% above what the standard rate would have cost.
Who Benefits From Time of Use?
Good candidates can move meaningful usage outside 5–9 p.m.: overnight EV charging, laundry and dishwashers earlier or later, water heating and battery charging off-peak. A household that cooks, cools, charges an EV and does laundry every evening may do worse.
Efficiency helps here. A well-insulated home can heat or cool before 5 p.m., coast through the peak window and resume after 9. A leaky home can't.
With Time of Use, the question isn't just what a kilowatt-hour costs. It's when you use it.
HVAC Can Matter More Than the Rate Change
April's adjustment added about $4.29 a month for a typical customer. Now suppose an inefficient heat pump wastes 300 kWh a month. At an effective cost of 18–20¢/kWh, that's $54–$60 a month, more than ten times the rate increase.
Energy Trust offers heat pump incentives in Pacific Power territory. Standard incentives are around $800–$1,000, higher for rentals, income-qualified homes and some regional or manufactured-home promotions. Confirm eligibility before you sign.
What About Solar and Batteries?
Pacific Power still offers net metering under Schedule 135 for residential systems up to 25 kW. Excess generation becomes kWh credits that carry forward, and unused credits at the end of the March billing period go to low-income assistance. Because credits carry forward, a battery isn't automatically needed just to protect export value.
A battery can still have a real job: wildfire-related outages, Public Safety Power Shutoffs, winter storms, critical loads and shifting energy into the 5–9 p.m. window. But a big rate spread is an opportunity, not a guaranteed return. Installed cost, round-trip losses and financing still have to pencil out.
The 2027 Rate Case: 10.8% Requested
In early May 2026, Pacific Power filed a general rate case with the PUC (docket UE 470). It asks for an 8.6% overall increase and 10.8% for residential customers, proposed to take effect in April 2027. On its own, Pacific Power says the rate case would add about $15.61 a month to a typical residential bill.
How 10.8% Becomes About $3.12 a Month
Pacific Power compares April 2027 with April 2026, before the May decrease. Several decreases fall between those dates:
- Rate case increase: about +$15.61
- May 2026 decrease: −$4.03 (already happened)
- January 2027 decrease: −$3.42 (expected)
- April 2027 decrease: −$5.04 (expected)
Those three decreases total $12.49. Subtract that from $15.61 and you get about $3.12 a month, roughly 2% more than in April 2026 if the case is approved as filed. That's why “Pacific Power wants a 10.8% increase” and “your bill will rise 10.8%” aren't the same statement.
10.8% requested.
About 2% net, if approved as filed.
Where the Rate Case Stands
Nothing is approved yet. On May 27, 2026, the PUC denied Pacific Power's request for a 2.8% interim increase. As of fall 2026 the case is still under review with no settlement. Public comments received by October 15, 2026 will be included in PUC staff's testimony, and a final decision is expected by spring 2027.
Pacific Power also asked for a separate increase of about 0.5% tied to selling its Washington assets to Portland General Electric (PGE). If approved, that would bring the April 2027 residential request to about 11.3%. Don't build a solar or HVAC payback around the full requested increase.
Why Is Pacific Power Asking for More?
Pacific Power points to grid resilience, system upgrades and maintenance, higher materials and labor costs, wildfire insurance and major infrastructure projects. These are long-term system costs, not a one-time fuel adjustment.
What About Data Centers?
Oregon's POWER Act (HB 3546, 2025) gives large new loads over 20 MW, like data centers, their own rate treatment. That way, existing customers don't subsidize their growth. Pacific Power's version, Schedule 401 (docket UE 463), would cover new facilities of 20 MW or more without a service agreement before June 16, 2025.
It's still pending. The tariff is suspended through December 31, 2026, and a settlement filed September 16, 2026 is being contested. A decision is expected by the end of 2026. PGE's large-load class, by contrast, took effect in July 2026. And the April 2026 increase came from power costs, renewables, low-income assistance and Energy Trust funding, not data centers.
Four Customers, the Same $225 Bill, Different Answers
- Home A: An old heat pump driving heavy winter usage. Best first move: HVAC diagnosis.
- Home B: EV charging, cooking and laundry all happen from 5–9 p.m. Best first move: Time of Use and load shifting.
- Home C: An efficient home with steady high usage and a good roof. Best next move may be solar.
- Home D: Existing solar, but wildfire outages are a worry. Best next move may be a battery.
The Best Order for a Pacific Power Customer
- Compare kWh year over year to see whether usage changed.
- Calculate your effective rate from an actual bill.
- Review 5–9 p.m. usage, especially EVs, HVAC, cooking and laundry.
- Diagnose HVAC and insulation to cut unnecessary load.
- Evaluate Time of Use if you can shift evening usage.
- Evaluate solar under current Schedule 135 net metering.
- Evaluate a battery separately for outages, critical loads and peak shifting.
- Treat the 2027 rate case as pending. Don't count on the full 10.8%.
The Ashborn Approach
Before recommending anything, Ashborn Partners looks at your Pacific Power rate plan, historical kWh, effective all-in cost, evening usage, HVAC and insulation. We also review available incentives, solar, net metering, battery storage, EV load and both approved and pending rate changes. Sometimes the best move is fixing the house. Sometimes it's just correcting the rate assumptions in a proposal you already have.
With Pacific Power, the right question isn't just what a kilowatt-hour costs. It's when you use it, how much the home actually needs, and which problem is worth solving first.
Pacific Power rates shown are its Oregon prices in effect as of April 1, 2026 and exclude adjustments, taxes and fees. The proposed 2027 general rate case remains under Oregon PUC review. Pacific Power’s estimated $3.12 monthly net change assumes the request is approved as filed and the expected decreases occur.