On March 31, 2026, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Commission) approved PacifiCorp’s Tier 5 interconnection proposal for qualifying facility small generators with modifications. Many stakeholders, including Commission Staff, Community Renewable Energy Association, Oregon Solar + Storage Industrias Association, Renewable Energy Coalition, and WynneWorks LLC advocated for changes to PacifiCorp’s Tier 5 proposal. The Commission issued Order No. 26-109 on April 1, 2026 adopting Staff’s recomme ...
ENERGY, UTILITY, AND REGULATORY ARTICLES
Oregon Commission Adopts Temporary Rules on Interconnection in Accordance with Executive Orders
On March 31, 2026, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Commission) adopted temporary rules related to small generator interconnection in response to Oregon Executive Orders (EO) 25-25 and 25-29. Many stakeholders, including the Renewable Energy Coalition, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Portland General Electric Company, and PacifiCorp, advocated for changes to Commission Staff’s proposed temporary small generator interconnection rules. The ...
Oregon Utility State-Jurisdictional Interconnection Revisions to Conform with FERC Orders 2023 and 2023-A
On January 8 and September 4, 2025, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Commission) approved revised small and large generator interconnection procedures (SGIP and LGIP) for Qualifying Facilities (QFs) for Oregon’s three investor-owned utilities, Portland General Electric Company (PGE), PacifiCorp, and Idaho Power Company (Idaho Power). These filings were necessary to bring the utilities in compliance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Order Nos. 2023 and 2023-A, which mand ...
OPUC Waives Penalty Rules Related to State Resource Adequacy Program for ESSs
On November 25, 2025, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Oregon Commission) issued Order No. 25-474 in Docket No. UM 2404 waiving penalty rules for electricity service suppliers (ESSs) under the state resource adequacy program and directed Oregon Commission Staff to open an informal rulemaking or investigation docket to consider amendments to the Oregon Commission’s resource adequacy rules. The Northwest & Intermountain Mountain Power Producers Coalition (NIPPC) filed a motion to the O ...
Colorado Commission Approves PSCo’s 2024 Just Transition Solicitation
On November 6, 2025, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (the Colorado Commission) approved Public Service Company of Colorado’s (PSCo) 2024 Just Transition Solicitation. PSCo’s 2024 Just Transition Solicitation is a combination of resource planning and resource procurement, which included a draft request for proposals (RFP). Several parties submitted testimony on PSCo’s 2024 Just Transition, including Colorado Commission Staff, Utility Consumer Advocate, Colorado Energy Office, Interwes ...
Oregon and Washington Commissions Approve PacifiCorp’s 2025 RFPs
At the August 26, 2025 Public Meeting, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (the Oregon Commission) approved PacifiCorp’s 2025 Oregon situs Request for Proposals (RFP) with conditions in Docket No. UM 2383. The order approving the RFP was issued on August 29, 2025. At the August 28, 2025 Open Meeting, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (the Washington Commission) approved PacifiCorp’s 2025 Washington situs RFP with conditions in Docket No. UE-250460. The order approving the R ...
Bonneville Power Administration Adopts New Power and Transmission Rates
On July 24, 2025, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Administrator issued the Final Record of Decision (ROD) for BPA’s BP-26 rate proceeding, setting out new power and transmission rates for fiscal years (FY) 2026-2028. The new rates were developed collaboratively, with settlements reducing the initially proposed increases. Power rates will rise by about 7.8–8.9% to support major investments in hydropower and nuclear reliability, while transmission rates will increase by an average of 19 ...
Public Power Advocates Voluntarily Dismiss BPA Appeal
On August 12, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order granting requests by the Public Power Council (“PPC”), Northwest Requirements Utilities (“NRU”), and the Alliance of Western Energy Consumers (“AWEC”) to voluntarily dismiss their respective appeals of the Bonneville Power Administration’s (“BPA”) decision to enter into an agreement affecting the costs and operation of the Columbia River System hydroelectric dams. In December 2023, BPA entered into a Memorandum of Understa ...
Portland General Electric 2025 Request for Proposals
On July 24, 2025, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Commission) issued an order conditionally acknowledging Portland General Electric’s (PGE) proposed 2025 All-Source Request for Proposals (RFP) for new generating resources. Acknowledgment is akin to a determination that the RFP is reasonable at the time of the Commission’s decision, and the acknowledgment decision will make it easier for PGE to recover costs of any resources ultimately procured from this RFP later in customer rates. Tradi ...
Washington Commission Approves Avista’s 2025 RFP
At the May 22, 2025 Open Meeting, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (the Washington Commission) approved Avista’s 2025 Request for Proposals (RFP) with conditions in Docket No. UE-250155. The order approving the RFP was issued on May 23, 2025. Several parties submitted comments on Avista’s RFP, including the Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition (NIPPC), Renewable Northwest, the Washington Commission Staff, Form Energy, and Public Counsel. The Washington ...