Home / News / Solar + Battery for Everyday Resilience — Keep Your Home Running During Power Outages

In recent years, electricity costs have been rising steadily for most Central Oregon residents.

Pacific Power (the utility serving much of our region) has proposed and implemented significant residential energy rate hikes which have hit homeowners hard, with their power bills going up by 9.8 percent for 2025, following a 12.9 percent increase in 2024, a 21 percent increase in 2023, and a 15 percent increase in 2022.

This is a trend that’s taking hold across the nation. Throughout the U.S., customers are seeing increasing electric bills, with the typical American household paying $156 per month for electricity in 2025, up nearly 30% from $121 per month in 2021, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Further rate increases in Central Oregon are likely over the next several years, but what is behind these increases? And how can homeowners protect themselves?

Central Oregon’s Population Boom — And Its Effect on the Power Grid

For starters, Central Oregon’s population is growing fast — and putting increased pressure on our region’s power grid.

Between 2020 and 2024, the population of Deschutes County and Crook County increased by six percent and ten percent, respectively, according to U.S. Census data. New residents steadily flock to Bend and Redmond, with Bend alone accounting for more than half of Deschutes County’s growth in recent estimates. Smaller communities like La Pine, Sisters, and Prineville are also growing, as both people and businesses seek affordable options within commuting distance of job centers.

Growth certainly brings economic benefits like additional workers, customers, and investment to our region. But these increasing numbers add strain to an infrastructure that is built for a smaller population. In the power sector, that strain shows up as higher peak demand, heavier use of long rural feeder lines, and rising costs to maintain the system during hot summers (in fire-prone areas) and intense winter storms.

Aging Infrastructure and the Expense of a Stronger, Safer Grid

Much of the country’s electricity infrastructure was built in the 1960s and 1970s, and approximately 70 percent of transmission lines are over 25 years old and approaching the end of their life cycle. Oregon’s regulated utilities are actively investing in transmission, distribution, and wildfire-hardening measures — necessary but costly upgrades that are passed on to ratepayers.

Pacific Power in particular highlights hundreds of millions of dollars in planned spending to strengthen its system, modernize equipment, and improve wildfire resilience while continuing to integrate more renewable generation. (On its website, Pacific Power also cites significantly higher insurance costs due to increased wildfire risk.)

As the utility continues to invest in infrastructure, wildfire mitigation, and new resources, our grid will likely be safer and more modern over time, but also more expensive to operate. Due to these upgrades, rate increases are all but guaranteed for Central Oregon homeowners.

Increased Tariffs, Increased Electricity Costs

Upgrades to the grid often rely on significant quantities of steel and aluminum — materials that, due to increased tariffs, raise the cost of construction significantly. Last year, the tariff rate was raised from 25% to 50%, and expanded to include more than 400 additional product categories. These higher costs ultimately show up on your power bill.

Surging Energy Demand From Data Centers

According to Pew Research Center, annual U.S. electricity consumption hit a record high in 2024. That ceiling could rise if data centers continue expanding at their current pace, which is likely, given the AI boom.

A typical hyperscale data center, which is a warehouse-sized facility capable of handling massive processing workloads, annually consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households. The larger ones currently under construction are expected to use 20 times as much.

Pew projects that electricity consumption at U.S. data centers will more than double by 2030.

So what does all of this mean for residential customers of utility companies?

To handle the increased energy demands from new data centers, utilities often need to make expensive upgrades to their power grids. Oftentimes, it’s U.S. households and smaller businesses that shoulder these costs (unless ratepayer protections are put in place).

It’s safe to assume that Americans will see more widespread price hikes in the coming years, as a direct result of data centers and their need to support artificial intelligence. (One study from Carnegie Mellon University estimates that data centers and cryptocurrency mining could lead to an 8% increase in the average U.S. electricity bill by 2030, potentially exceeding 25% in the highest-demand markets.)

Fixing the Cost of Electricity with Rooftop Solar and Batteries

For local homeowners and businesses, rooftop solar and battery storage can help stabilize energy costs for the life of a system, which is often 25–30 years (or more). On a larger scale, widespread adoption of solar and batteries can help flatten peak demand, reduce stress on rural feeders, and provide localized backup capacity — complementing the utility’s investments.

When utility customers invest in their own generation of power, they gain both long-term cost savings and additional reliability and resilience, as solar and batteries can keep critical loads running during outages.

Are you ready to stabilize your energy costs and take the next step toward energy independence? Contact us for a free consultation.