The Oregon House of Representatives has passed a bill that aims to ensure data center customers pay the costs of the infrastructure required to power their installations.

House Bill 3546 established a new customer class for data centers, requiring the Public Utility Commission to allocate costs to serve the facilities on the developers. The rates will be applied to the state's two major investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power.

The bill passed on a 37-17 vote. The bill had initially been passed in March; however, following minor amendments by the State Senate, it returned to the House for a second reading.

In addition to the new rates, the bill will require data center companies to enter into a minimum ten-year contract and a power purchase agreement to shield utilities from the risk of overbuild.

PGE and PacifiCorp backed the legislation, aligning themselves with the Citizens Utility Board, Oregon’s designated advocate for residential utility customers. In contrast, a group of data center companies opposed the measure.

The bill will now be sent to the Governor for their signature or veto.

The bill’s primary sponsors included Democratic Representatives Pam Marsh and Dacia Grayber, along with Democratic Senators Janeen Sollman and Jeff Golden. Republican Representative Mark Owens also co-sponsored the proposal.

Oregon is one of the country’s premier data center markets, with Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple all with a significant presence in the state. According to PGE, it supplied data centers in the state with more than one million MWh of energy during 2023, more than double the recorded amount two years prior.