Oregon’s electric grid powers through record-breaking heat

This week’s extreme heat is testing Oregon’s electrical grid — and one of the state’s largest investor-owned utilities says the system is holding up under the strain.

Hot temperatures can stress equipment used to generate and transport electricity, increasing the risk of outages at a time when many residents rely on power to stay cool, and avoid potentially life-threatening heat conditions. Portland General Electric said the poles, wires and other equipment that bring electricity into homes and businesses are working in the record-breaking heat.

Still, the utility is joining with other power providers across the state in recommending Oregonians conserve energy during the hottest parts of the day when demand on the grid is high.

“The grid is designed to be resilient in the face of a wide array of weather events,” John Farmer, spokesperson with PGE, said. “What we’re looking at is what are the ways that we can collectively pitch in to just reduce some of that strain on the grid during those high peak demand times.”

Farmer said Oregon households tend to use the most power between 3 and 9 p.m. Tips for reducing energy use include using large appliances like dishwashers outside of the peak hours, and turning thermostats up a few degrees if doing so won’t threaten the health of residents or pets.

While Oregon’s grid is expected to continue operating through this week’s heat wave without widespread power outages, consumer advocates say the triple-digit temperatures still raise concerns around access to electricity.

Oregon law should protect vulnerable power customers from hot weather cutoffs

Typically when a power customer doesn’t pay a bill, the utility will shut off service at that home until payment is received. In April, investor-owned gas and electric utilities in Oregon disconnected power for at least a short period of time for more than 8,500 households due to nonpayment of bills, according to the voter-created nonprofit Citizens’ Utility Board. That’s the highest number the group has reported in the six years the state has analyzed shutoff data.

But a utility cannot turn off power due to nonpayment when there’s a heat advisory in place, according to Oregon law.

Utilities must check each morning for a heat advisory, a spokesperson for the Oregon Public Utility Commission wrote in an email to OPB.

“If one is forecasted,” they wrote, “the company is not allowed to disconnect service for the day. In addition, if a customer was disconnected 72 hours before the advisory, the customer may request the restoration of the service due to the severe weather event.”

Oregon law also prevents utilities from shutting off service on a Friday, weekend, or holiday. For the current heat wave, that means utilities have been barred from shutoffs since Wednesday July 3, according to CUB policy associate Sarah Wochele.

“However, if I was disconnected on Monday or Tuesday of last week, there is nothing in the rules that says that a utility has to automatically reconnect me once a severe weather moratorium hits,” Wochele said.

Wochele points out the law says the customer can request a reconnection, but Wochele is concerned that puts the burden on residents who may not be familiar with Oregon’s utility codes. Oregon utilities must report disconnections for nonpayment on a quarterly basis. The next report, which will include the days leading up to the heat advisory, is expected in late August.

Wochele said data shows often power is reconnected within a day of a nonpayment shut off — but even a short period without electricity can mean food going bad in the refrigerator, loss of access to important medical devices, or other potentially dangerous consequences.

“Do we need changes to these rules to ensure that, for example, utilities are the ones taking the initiative to reconnect to these people in these particular circumstances,” Wochele asks, “and that the burden is not falling on customers who have already experienced lots of difficult choices leading up to a disconnection — and are going to face a lot of difficulty following a disconnection, depending how long they’ve been shut off for?”