Portland General Electric Rates in 2026: What Are You Actually Paying?

If you're trying to pin down Portland General Electric (PGE) rates in 2026, the honest answer is more complicated than one number per kWh. A PGE residential bill includes a basic charge plus energy, transmission and distribution charges. It also includes annual power-cost adjustments, wildfire and reliability costs, public-purpose and assistance charges, other approved riders, and local taxes and fees.

PGE rates also moved in both directions this year: up in April, then partly back down in July, with more changes proposed for 2027. So don't ask, “What's the rate?” Ask, “Which PGE pricing plan am I on, and what does my home do during the expensive hours?”

Why PGE Doesn't Have One Simple Rate Per kWh

PGE's default residential service is Schedule 7, Residential Service. But the final bill is built from several tariff components and adjustment schedules. They cover power costs, wildfire mitigation, energy efficiency, public-purpose programs and other cost-recovery items. Dividing one energy line by your usage won't tell you what electricity actually cost your household.

How to Calculate Your Effective PGE Rate

The simplest benchmark is total electric charges ÷ total kWh. For example, if a month's electric charges were $176 and the home used 900 kWh, the effective rate is about 19.6¢/kWh. Track that number month over month and year over year, and you'll have a much clearer picture than any single line on the rate sheet.

Compare kWh Before Comparing Dollars

Suppose August 2025 was 800 kWh and $150, and August 2026 was 1,150 kWh and $220. It's tempting to say “PGE raised my bill $70.” But usage rose about 44%. That points to the house: air conditioning, a heat pump, electric water heating, EV charging, a pool or spa, or more people at home.

What if usage barely changed (say 900 kWh one year and 910 the next) but the bill rose noticeably? Then look at rate changes, power-cost adjustments, distribution charges, wildfire recovery and other riders (extra line-item charges). That's much more likely a price problem.

PGE Rates Went Up About 5% on April 1, 2026

The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved a group of PGE adjustments that took effect April 1, 2026. The PUC estimated the combined changes added about $7.97 a month, or roughly 5%, to a typical residential bill.

The key word is combined. The April change reflected updated fuel and purchased-power forecasts, approved storm expenses, distribution-system investments and low-income assistance. It also covered federal hydropower (BPA) benefits, battery storage resources, demand-flexibility programs, transportation electrification, community solar and wildfire mitigation. “PGE raised its rate 5%” is directionally right but incomplete. Many separate pieces moved at once.

Why the Increase Waited Until April

Oregon's FAIR Act (HB 3179, passed in 2025) limits when rate increases can start. It bars residential increases at investor-owned utilities from taking effect between November 1 and March 31, the heart of heating season. Increases have to take effect by October 31 or wait until April 1. That's why PGE's approved changes started on April 1. In Oregon, the timing of a rate change now matters almost as much as the approval date.

Then Residential Rates Fell in July

Beginning July 8, 2026, PGE implemented Oregon's POWER Act (HB 3546, 2025). It gives data centers and other very large new loads their own rate treatment. Residential rates dropped about 1.3%, roughly $1.91 a month for a customer using 780 kWh. Commercial rates fell about 2.1% and other industrial rates about 1.4%. Data centers and large new loads saw rates rise about 29%.

So a PGE quote built on January, April or June pricing may not match what you're paying this fall.

Why Oregon Is Making Large Loads Pay More

Oregon has seen rapid electricity demand growth from data centers and other very large customers. In its second-quarter 2026 results, PGE reported industrial customer demand up 11%, driven by high-tech and data-center customers. The POWER Act is built on a simple idea: growth should pay for growth, so households and small businesses don't end up subsidizing infrastructure needed mainly by a handful of huge new users.

PGE's tariff now includes a dedicated large-load class, Schedule 96, for loads of 20 MW or more. Projects of 100 MW or more pay an additional 1¢/kWh. That doesn't make data-center growth disappear from the grid. It changes who pays for it. The PUC delivered its first POWER Act report to the legislature in late August 2026.

PGE's Time of Day Plan Has a Huge Price Spread

For homeowners who want more control, PGE offers an optional Time of Day plan. Prices as of July 2026:

• Off-peak: 8.93¢/kWh — 9 p.m.–7 a.m. weekdays, plus all day on weekends and six holidays
• Mid-peak: 16.70¢/kWh — 7 a.m.–5 p.m. weekdays
• On-peak: 43.13¢/kWh — 5–9 p.m. weekdays

Like any published rate, these don't capture every tax, fee or credit on your bill. But the spread is the point: the on-peak price is nearly five times the off-peak price.

Example: Charging an EV

Suppose an EV needs 30 kWh of charging. During the weekday 5–9 p.m. peak, that's 30 × 43.13¢ = about $12.94. Off-peak, it's 30 × 8.93¢ = about $2.68. That's roughly $10.26 per charging session, which can add up to hundreds of dollars a year. The easiest fix may be changing when the car charges, not installing more solar.

Weekends Are Off-Peak All Day

Every weekend hour is off-peak. So flexible chores like laundry, the dishwasher, EV charging and some water heating can get the lowest price all day Saturday and Sunday. For a household with flexible timing, that alone can meaningfully improve the plan's annual economics.

Is Time of Day Cheaper Than Basic Service?

PGE says Time of Day is lower than Basic Service at all hours except the 5–9 p.m. weekday on-peak window. So the real question isn't “is TOU cheaper?” It's “how much electricity does my home use from 5 to 9 p.m. on weekdays?”

PGE's First-Year Guarantee

Stay on Time of Day for your full first 12 months. If you end up paying more than 10% above what Basic Service would have cost, PGE refunds the amount above that 10%. That lowers the risk of trying it. You can leave during the first 12 months, but if you do, you'll have to wait 12 months to re-enroll.

Before switching, use PGE's Pricing Plan Comparison and Simulator tools, which use your own usage history. A rate change can sometimes save money without buying any equipment.

HVAC Can Matter More Than the Rate Change

April's adjustment added about $8 a month to a typical bill. Now suppose an aging heat pump or AC makes the house use 300 unnecessary kWh a month. At an effective cost around 20¢/kWh, that's about $60 a month, several times bigger than the rate increase.

That's why a household with high heating or cooling use should look at HVAC before assuming solar is the only answer. Energy Trust of Oregon offers heat pump incentives for PGE customers. They currently range from about $1,000 for a standard home to as much as $3,000 for qualifying ducted systems in income-qualified or rental homes.

Insulation Helps You Manage Peak Hours

A tighter home uses less energy for heating and cooling, and it holds its temperature longer. Under Time of Day, a well-insulated home can heat or cool before 5 p.m. and ease off during the expensive window. It can coast through it and return to normal after 9 p.m. Efficiency and rate strategy reinforce each other.

What About Solar?

PGE still offers net metering for qualifying customer-owned solar. Excess generation becomes kWh credits that carry forward month to month. At the annual true-up, normally in March, unused credits go to low-income bill assistance rather than being paid to you. You can request a different true-up month. That's still a relatively favorable setup compared with states that pay very low rates for exported solar.

Batteries Have Different Jobs in PGE Territory

Because you can bank excess solar as kWh credits, a battery isn't automatically needed just to avoid low-value exports. A battery may still make sense for wildfire-related Public Safety Power Shutoffs and for winter storm and ice storm outages. It can also cover critical loads and backup power, and those benefits are real. Model resilience and bill savings separately.

Time of Day can strengthen the case. The gap between 8.93¢ off-peak and 43.13¢ on-peak is about 34¢/kWh, and a battery that reliably cuts 5–9 p.m. imports can capture some of that. But installed cost, round-trip losses, degradation and financing all count. A big rate spread creates an opportunity. It doesn't guarantee a return.

What's Ahead: PGE's 2027 Rate Case

PGE filed a new general rate case in early August 2026. As filed, it would raise prices about 4.8% overall, with residential up about 3.9% (roughly $8.33 a month for a 780-kWh customer). New rates are proposed to take effect July 1, 2027. The request is subject to PUC review and is not approved.

Power Costs May Fall First in January 2027

Separately, PGE forecasts that lower power costs in its annual power cost update will reduce prices about 2.4% on January 1, 2027. That's a forecast. The final number is usually set in November. A salesperson who simply says “PGE is raising rates 4.8% next year” is leaving out a big part of the picture.

A sound savings model starts with today's approved rates and accounts separately for the forecast January decrease. It treats the rate case as pending and gets updated once the PUC decides.

Four PGE Customers, the Same $225 Bill, Different Answers

• Home A: An old heat pump driving high winter and summer usage. Best first move: HVAC diagnosis.
• Home B: EV charging, the dryer and cooking all happen from 5–9 p.m. Best first move: Time of Day and load-shifting review.
• Home C: An efficient home with steady high usage and good sun exposure. Best next move may be solar.
• Home D: Existing solar, but worried about wildfire or winter outages. Best next move may be a battery.

The Best Order for a PGE Customer

1. Identify your pricing plan: Basic Service or Time of Day.
2. Compare kWh year over year to see whether usage changed.
3. Review your 5–9 p.m. weekday use, especially EV, HVAC, cooking, laundry and water heating.
4. Diagnose HVAC and insulation to cut unnecessary load.
5. Run PGE's pricing simulator to see whether Time of Day fits.
6. Evaluate solar using current PGE net-metering rules.
7. Evaluate a battery separately for rate shifting, outages and backup.
8. Treat 2027 changes as pending. Don't build savings around an unapproved increase.

The Ashborn Approach

Before recommending equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at your PGE pricing plan, historical kWh, when your home uses electricity, HVAC and insulation. We also review available incentives, solar, net metering, battery storage, EV load, and both approved and pending rate changes.

With PGE, the question isn't just how much electricity costs. It's how much your home uses, when it uses it, and whether you're paying to solve the right problem.

PGE prices, Time of Day rates and regulatory filings can change. Time of Day prices shown are as of July 2026 and do not include every tax, fee or credit. PGE’s proposed 2027 general rate increase is subject to Oregon PUC approval, and the January 2027 power-cost decrease is a forecast.