Senate committee advances bill directing PUC to set rates for very large energy users; amendment clarifies payments and direct access

The Oregon Senate Committee on Energy and Environment on May 14 voted to advance House Bill 3546A, as amended, to the full Senate with a “do pass” recommendation after adopting the A‑7 amendment. The bill directs the Oregon Public Utility Commission to establish a classification and contract framework for very large energy use facilities and requires biennial reporting to the Legislature.

Representative Pam Marsh, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure is “designed to make sure that certain of our very large energy users pay the cost of their own power. We're not asking them to subsidize other people.” Marsh said the bill would let the PUC create a special rate class for those users, require long‑term contracts for new facilities and use data to calculate cost‑based rates.

The bill defines a “large energy use facility” as one with a contracted demand of 20 megawatts or more and ties that definition to industry classifications; legislative staff noted the definition captures data centers and crypto‑mining operations as identified by NAICS codes. The A‑7 amendment, adopted in…