December 22, 2010
Higher
Heat Bills
Coming
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
ing people to write to Congress to
restore LIHEAP funs to $5.1 bil
lion nationally. If federal energy
assistance is reduced by 59 per
cent, the LIHEAP program will
dramatically reduce the number
of Multnomah County households
qualifying for energy assistance
this year, officials said.
The rate case decision issued
the Oregon Public Utilities Com
mission on Friday will increase
Pacific Power rates in'January by
8.4 percent to cover all new ex
penses for operating the utility.
But the total increase will move to
14.5 percent next week when the
commission is expected to ap
prove a second rate increase of
6.1 percent for higher power
costs. PacifiCorp had requested
a 20 percent increase.
“Commission staff and cus
tomer groups worked very hard
to trim expenses where they
could. I also know that the im
pact of this decision will be
difficult for many households
and businesses to absorb given
our difficult economic times,”
C om m ission C hairm an Ray
Baum said. “I hope we can avoid
the situation in the future where
large capital projects and power
costs hit customers in the same
year. However, these are re
sources that will serve custom
ers for decades.”
The m onthly bill o f a typical
residential custom er o f Pacific
using 900 kilow att hours of
energy a month w ill increase
by $ 9 .3 8 fro m $ 8 8 .2 1 to
$97.59 or 11.5 percent. $5.38
is due to the general rate case
and $4 is for po w er costs.
T he in c re a s e in c lu d e s the
m onthly service charge. The
am ount will vary for custom
ers using above or below 900
kilow att hours.
Energy rates for Pacific Power
industrial customers will rise by
17 percent and large commercial
customers by 17.6 percent.
For Portland G eneral E lec
tric custom ers, PUC approval
an overall price increase of
about 3.9 percent, w hich will
clim b to 4.2 p erce n t w hen
adjusted with various credits
and deferred costs. U nder the
rate schedule, residents could
see their pow er costs rise be
tw een 3.3 to 6.2 percent de
pending on pow er dem and.
^Jortlanh (Observer
Page 5
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