Oregon Public Broadcasting

Some residents and businesses in Oregon could see their electric bills spike as much as 14 percent next year.

Pacific Power is proposing two separate rate hikes. 

The first covers the increase in the actual cost of the power.  That’s projected to be around 6 percent. 

The second increase reflects the company’s big-ticket capital expenditures. Those include emission control systems, two new wind projects and licensing costs for hydro-electric projects.

Jan Mitchell is a spokeswoman for Pacific Power.

Jan Mitchell: "There’s no way around it.  These are significant increases.  They’re large but they also are necessary to recover these investment costs.  We need to make sure we have what it takes to serve our customers into the future."

The rate increases still need to be approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission.  If it votes yes in December, rates would go up January 1st.