Should a gas or electric utility operating in Oregon be able to charge customers for political advertising or lobbying?

What if a utility was found by a court or a government agency of doing something wrong and had to pay a penalty? Should it be able to charge customers for that?

A proposed bill for the 2025 session of the Oregon Legislature “prohibits an electric or gas company from recovering from ratepayers costs or expenses associated with advertising, political influence activity, litigation, penalties or fines and certain compensation.”

This proposal would alter, somewhat, the decisions of the Oregon Public Utility Commission. The commission regulates the investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities in Oregon: Cascade Natural, Idaho Power, Pacific Power, PGE and NW Natural. Utilities make their case for rates to the commission and it decides if they are acceptable or not.

The commission has not allowed utilities to recover political activity costs through rates, including lobbying. “They are not required to provide safe and adequate service to customers,” the PUC told us.

For instance, there is a PUC order that states: “Ratepayers should not be required to contribute to the advancement of political positions in which they may not believe.”

If the proposed bill did pass, it would likely create greater change for wildfire liability. Power lines can contribute to wildfires. And in turn, electric utilities can face liability. As we have written, PacifiCorp, the parent company of Oregon’s Pacific Power and Utah’s Rocky Mountain Power, had its annual liability insurance cost jump up from $10 million to $125 million after an Oregon jury found PacifiCorp liable for damages from a wildfire in Oregon.

If a utility can’t recoup such costs from customers, they may find it challenging to operate. It’s not like wildfire risk is in decline.

The proposal also includes a requirement that electric or gas companies report to the state detailed information about employees that carry out political activities, advertising and litigation. Companies would have to report the compensation, job titles, job descriptions and a description of the activity that the employee carried out. It would be a deep government reach into the workings of private companies.

The proposed bill has no listed sponsor, so it’s not clear which legislator or legislators has brought it forward. It is listed as what’s called a committee bill for the Senate Interim Committee On Energy and Environment. Want to know who to pat on the back for it or who to blame? Legislators aren’t making it easy to find out.